Commons Back BBC Licence Fee

A majority of the UK's backbench MPs reject the recent conclusion of David Elstein's Broadcasting Policy Group that the BBC licence fee should be scrapped, according to research by BPRI.

64% of backbenchers polled say that the licence fee should be continued when the BBC Charter comes up for renewal. Just over half also reject the notion of 'slicing', ie the sharing out of public funds between public service broadcasters. When asked if it is 'vital that the BBC maintains its status as the nation's public sector broadcaster', 78% agreed.

There is one area of agreement with the Elstein recommendations - regulation. The Policy Group recommended to the Conservative Party that the Board of Governors should be scrapped. A slight majority (56%) of the 100 MPs polled say that Ofcom should regulate the BBC, instead of the Board of Governors, or that a new regulatory body should be established to oversee the Corporation.

Ninety-one percent of MPs agree that 'the ability of the BBC and all broadcasters to report independently must be preserved at all costs', despite strong criticism of the way it acted over the David Kelly affair, by Lord Hutton and others.

100 MPs, forming a representative sample of the composition of the House, were interviewed during February 2004. BPRI (web site www.bprigroup.com ) is part of Kantar, within the WPP Group.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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