Estimates Day — [2nd Allotted Day — 1st Part] — Supplementary Estimates, 2004–05 — Future of the BBC

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:44 pm on 9 March 2005.

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Photo of John Whittingdale John Whittingdale Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 1:44, 9 March 2005

I do not agree with the something for everybody argument, to which I shall return. Some people's tastes may be confined strictly to game shows and make-over programmes, but that does not mean that the BBC should cater for them when they are adequately—indeed, over-adequately—supplied on commercial television channels. On the Jerry Springer programme, my concern is that the BBC has not shown sufficient sensitivity to what is not just religious extremism, as the director-general was quoted as saying, but a very significant body of opinion.

Another issue that has given rise to, if anything, even more concern, is the BBC's decision in the past few days to pay Mr. Brendan Fearon £4,500 for his contribution to a documentary on the Tony Martin case. The BBC says that there was an exceptional public interest in that payment and that the documentary would not have presented a full picture without Mr. Fearon's contribution. The latter point may well be true, but that does not necessarily mean that there was an exceptional public interest. There is a widespread view that the BBC got it wrong, and I should like it to say so.