Exeter MP, and former culture minister, Ben Bradshaw has accused the BBC of ducking the big decisions by salami slicing across the board rather than axing a particular service.
With local radio services facing budget cuts of 20%, Ben told the Guardian: “The BBC should be taking a more long-term strategic approach to its reduced circumstances instead of trying to continue to do everything they currently do with less money,” he said.
“They should be bold and stop doing things that few people watch or listen to, or that the commercial sector already does perfectly adequately.
“It seems to me the BBC was so traumatised by [the rejection of] their proposals to close 6 Music and the Asian Network that they won’t contemplate closing down anything. That is not leadership.”
Read the full article below.
(image: Ben Bradshaw at Exeter LGBT Pride 2011 
Some rights reserved by Gray Marchiori-Simpson)
The BBC is facing a growing political backlash to its proposed cuts to local radio after MPs lined up at a Westminster debate to criticise the changes as unfair, unjustified and a “travesty” for listeners.
About 50 MPs took part in a private members’ debate on Wednesday brought by Conservative MP Robin Walker, many of them highlighting the impact the cuts would have on BBC local stations in their constituencies.
The corporation was accused of being biased towards its national stations such as Radio 4 at the expense of its local services, and in favour of London and the south-east to the detriment of the north and west of England.
Luciana Berger, the Labour & Co-operative MP for Liverpool Wavertree, claimed Radio 4′s lunchtime consumer affairs programme You and Yours had more staff on it than the whole of BBC Radio Merseyside.
“The impact these cuts will have on all of its programming is a travesty,” she told the debate in parliament’s Westminster Hall.
Roger Gale, the Conservative MP for Thanet North, took aim at the salaries paid to BBC management, saying director general Mark Thompson earned twice as much as the cuts being required at the Merseyside station.
“Local radio is a lifeline at times of crisis,” he added. “If we allow these cuts to go ahead, then broadcasting generally, not just the BBC, will be all the poorer. Once that infrastructure is gone it will be impossible to get it back.”
Former Labour culture minister Ben Bradshaw accused BBC management of ducking the big decisions by salami slicing across the board rather than axing a particular service.
“The BBC should be taking a more long-term strategic approach to its reduced circumstances instead of trying to continue to do everything they currently do with less money,” he said.
“They should be bold and stop doing things that few people watch or listen to, or that the commercial sector already does perfectly adequately.
“It seems to me the BBC was so traumatised by [the rejection of] their proposals to close 6 Music and the Asian Network that they won’t contemplate closing down anything. That is not leadership.”
Many of the BBC’s 40 local stations are having to make budget cuts of 20%, with the axe falling hardest at BBC London 94.9, which is having to save 25%, about £1m.
The cuts are being made as part of Thompson’s Delivering Quality First proposals, following last year’s flat licence fee settlement, which are now the subject of a consultation by the BBC Trust.
About 2,000 jobs will be lost as part of efforts to save a total of £700m a year. It will include 380 jobs going in the English regions, of which 280 will be in local radio.
Walker, the Tory MP for Worcester who brought today’s debate, said for many listeners local radio was their only return on the licence fee.
“Of the 7 million people who listen to local radio more than 2 million don’t listen to another BBC station,” he added. “Local radio is special, not just another part of the BBC.”
The BBC’s director of news Helen Boaden, in a blog post published on Tuesday ahead of the debate, admitted she had “lost count of the number of people who have complained to me about Radio 4 being protected from the cuts at the alleged expense of local radio”.
However, she said it was the “right decision” that Radio 4 was protected from the “full force” of the cuts, adding that it was not true to say that “local radio is being picked on, though its particular circumstances may make it feel like that on the ground”.
“Are the plans for Local Radio ideal? Not at all,” she added. “Despite the cuts, I believe that BBC local radio can survive and even thrive because it will always have its unique connection to its audiences.
“By 2016 we will still have 40 BBC local radio stations delivering quality output to audiences who rely on us and often love us. We have no intention of letting them down.”
Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, said the cuts to BBC local radio were “not just a question of funding but a question of identity, heritage and culture”.
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