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This is a piece from The Daily Telegraph, Feb 16, by  Huw Merriman MP, chair of the all-party Parliamentary group on the BBC:  

The people's government should not be attacking the BBC, a broadcaster the people love

Even the most ardent Corbynista would have to concede that our election manifesto landed well with the public. The Government has wasted little time in putting pledges into action. We’re delivering Brexit. The recruitment of 20,000 new police officers is underway. Increasing the time behind bars for the most violent offenders is going on to the statute books.

There’s only one pledge where we appear to have gone back on ourselves and this relates to the BBC. Having promised in our manifesto to ‘work with our cultural institutions like the BBC… to expand our influence and project our values’ the noises coming from Government appear to suggest that the BBC should in fact be slimmed down and put on subscriptionn. How the Government can project our nation’s values from behind the BBC’s paywall remains to be seen.

More worrying, it feels as if senior Government aides are now ramping up an unedifying vendetta against this much-admired corporation. This culminated in a bizarre promise this weekend to ‘whack’ the BBC. Whilst some may see the BBC as in need of the type of ‘trousers-down, six of the best’ treatment which may have been enjoyed, or endured, during boarding school, this is an institution which enjoys an 80 per cent approval rating from the same public which elects its Government.

Given the majority must be the same people who propelled my party into Government, some lending us votes for the first time, it begs the question as to why we are picking such a potentially unpopular fight. In so doing, it will be the Government which is likely to get the blame when the BBC either becomes much more expensive to those who want it to remain the broadcasting outfit it currently is or a cheaper but slimmed down commercial outfit delivering much less to those who rely on its full panacea of output.

This Government has a reach beyond one voter type or regional base; allowing us to proclaim that we are a one-nation party, representing all with a determination to bring the country together. The BBC should not be a target for us. It not only brings us together at home but helps maintain our influence on the world stage. From royal occasions, commemorating and remembering those who sacrificed their lives for the next generation to cheering on our national teams and athletes, the BBC is the institution we rely on when we come together as a nation to celebrate and embrace our identity.

Of course the future of the licence fee should be up for discussion and debate before the next charter renewal in 2027. With more of our media services being behind paywall and subscription, it is right to consider whether the ownership of a TV set and aerial should be a basis to pay £154 per year for BBC television, sounds and web output.

Ultimately, it is for the BBC to argue its case and ensure that the public remains on side. Like many in this country, I hope it succeeds. We all have our own dislikes and some coverage or commentary we would not miss. Ultimately, it’s the content we do love which we will bemoan when it’s gone. This is not a fight which the BBC is picking. It’s not a contest which my party promised would occur if we got elected. This means only one thing. If the BBC ends up in decline,  if a much-loved and revered institution is devalued and if the costs go up, it will be this Government which will stand accused by the very people who we will be relying on to support us at the next election. Given this is unlikely to end well, aren’t we better off focusing on levelling up the nation rather than levelling down on an institution which is already delivering?

I've signed along with the 176,000. Can this be promulgated everywhere. We need to protect Auntie from the nasty Bad Wolf Boris, henchman Domenic. Where are the huntsmen when you want them.

The next topic on the site relsts to the ad for DG, but it fails to mention that Central London accommodation could be made available after conversion of all the spaces occupied by R1, R2, Radio London etc. if Beeb is forced to sell off the best bits. Why, there's even a street in Elstree with lots of houses, a pub, a caff & a laundrette. Who could resist?

Something useful to use in persuading the antis:-



And the Licence Fee also pays for S4C, Local TV and rural Broadband rollout!

I wonder how much itv ad income has gone done in that period?!!

Now 265,351