Government to unveil Channel 4 privatisation plans tomorrow

The White Paper with details of the privatisation will be put before MPs just in time for the end of the Parliamentary session.

MPs on both sides of the House shared their concerns about the sell-off today, with one Yorkshire politician fearing the plans will do “great damage” to Leeds and other northern areas.

Culture minister Julia Lopez told MPs today: “The Government is determined to protect the role of public service broadcasters in our nation’s economic, cultural and democratic life. And to make sure that they remain at the heart of our broadcasting system no matter what the future holds.

“So tomorrow we will be publishing a White Paper that proposes major reforms to our decades old broadcasting regulations. Reforms that will put traditional broadcasters like the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on an even-playing field with Netflix, Amazon Prime and others and enable them to thrive in the streaming age.”

Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley encouraged colleagues to leave the broadcaster be, as he told the Commons: “Channel 4 is in the best state it’s been creatively and financially for decades.”

He added: “The Government could do best by leaving it alone.”

Meanwhile, Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman accused Downing Street of being “determined to undermine public service broadcasting in our country” and described the sell off as “part of a wider attack on the BBC on all public service broadcasting.”

He added: “This will do great damage to Leeds, to the creative industries in the north of England.”