More Tories join battle to save Channel 4

A trio of Conservative MP’s have spoken out against the plans to privatise Channel 4 as Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle called on 40 rebels to join the fight.

Introducing this morning’s in-person Westminster Hall debate, Eagle gave way to Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative MP for Sutton Coldfield, who distanced himself from the DCMS’ ‘preferred position’ to find a private owner.

“These are government proposals and there are many of us within the Conservative party who are questioning them in the same way as [Angela Eagle] is. She mustn’t characterise this as a ‘Tories versus C4’ situation,” he said.

Eagle, flanked by Labour MPs including shadow culture minister Chris Matheson and Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel, responded by calling on Mitchell and other Tories to vote against a sell-off if it is put to a parliamentary vote as she set out what would be required to overturn the government’s 83-strong majority.

“I look forward to [him] being one of over 40 Conservative MPs that will appear in the lobby to vote against any such privatisation proposals,” she said.

The C4 All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), which is led by Conservative MP Helen Grant and includes two other Tory MPs, Andy Carter and Jason McCartney, wrote to culture secretary Oliver Dowden criticising the plans last week.

Setting out his opposition to the proposals, former cabinet minister Mitchell referenced C4 News’ comprehensive coverage of the Syrian war and its support for the Paralympics and said there is a “conflict of interest between pursuing public service objectives where the pursuit of profit is the underlying model”.

His views were echoed by Conservative MP for Worthing West and father of the house Sir Peter Bottomley who said he “valued” C4’s management for adapting to the fast-moving media landscape and questioned the rationale behind weakening C4’s remit and obligations in order to secure a higher price.

“Privatising C4 isn’t a question of money but a question of right or wrong,” he added.

Elsewhere, Warrington South MP and C4 APPG group member Andy Carter spoke publicly regarding his position for the first time.

“C4 is one of the most creative platforms on the planet, and it has immense benefit to the UKs GDPR,” he added.

The British media must support a “plurality of voices and ideas” and C4’s contribution is “particularly valuable” as part of that, he argued.

Impact assessment

Responding to calls for an impact assessment of a sale made during the debate and by C4 chair Charles Gurassa, culture minister John Whittingdale said this could only be conducted after the consultation period had taken place.

“The impact assessment will be determined by the answer to the questions,” he said. “You cannot carry out an impact assessment before you have decided what the remit should be as this will determine the impact.”