Michelle Donelan said that as culture secretary she would review the BBC’s license fee “firmly”, but refused to say whether it could be scrapped. Donelan also said she was reviewing the Online Harms Bill and provisions on “lawful but harmful” speech. All these policies were major announcements under her predecessor, Nadine Dorries, who turned down an offer to serve as culture secretary under Liz Truss. Donelan told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that she would take a fresh look at the benefits and costs of privatizing Channel 4 – something the broadcaster and others argued would harm the many small production companies it works with. “As the prime minister said, we need to review the business case and that’s certainly what I’m doing. We make sure we still agree with that decision and that’s what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m the type of politician who bases his decisions on evidence, on listening, and that’s what I’ll be doing in the coming weeks. I will take this approach when it comes to Channel 4 and every aspect of my brief.” Donelan said she would look again at the BBC’s license fee after Dorries had previously announced that the next license fee deal “would be the last”. “It’s no secret that I’ve been a long-term skeptic about the license fee and that we need to make sure the BBC is sustainable in the long term. So I’m looking at that in the round,” Donelan said. “I’m someone who listens, I’m someone who makes policy decisions based on evidence, and that’s what I’ll be doing in the coming weeks.” Earlier, Donelan praised the BBC’s coverage of the Queen’s funeral and acknowledged that streaming services could not provide this kind of live coverage. “I think the BBC have done a terrific job over the last few days and nobody could fault them. I went to see the operation and it was amazing and required everyone to put their heads down and prioritize public services during the period and they did it on the spot,” he said. “It showed the real value of the BBC, but for me it means it’s even more important to make sure the BBC is sustainable in the long term.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Donelan said the government would bring the internet safety bill back to the Commons “as soon as possible” but admitted new work had been done on the bill over free speech concerns about a provision for “legal but harmful speech”. He said it would not reduce the protections the bill creates for what children can see online. “We will bring it back home as soon as possible. It requires some work, not in relation to protecting children online. Absolutely not,” he told Sky News. “We’re not changing any of that, but we want to make sure we have the right balance of free speech in relation to adults.” John McVay, chief executive of Pact, the trade body for independent TV and film production companies, said: “The new Prime Minister has made it clear that her priority is to drive growth. Privatizing Channel 4 would do the opposite, jeopardizing the future of thousands of UK production companies and jeopardizing the future prospects of a thriving industry that has a presence across the country. “There is literally no point trying to find a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and that’s why I’m glad the new culture secretary has committed to reviewing the business case for privatizing Channel 4.”
