The structures that preserve the independence of journalism from the power of the UK state seem to be under assault. The government of the day has the power to appoint people to the board that oversees the BBC. The problem, to express it in more abstract terms, relates to the extent to which private institutions that perform public functions should be the focus of public and constitutional law.
Once again, the BBC is under pressure. Once again, the British Government is briefing hostile newspapers about how both it, and its sister public service broadcaster, Channel 4, are in the firing line. Once again, dark clouds gather over its future, which has been called into question. The licence fee, the hypothecated tax that provides the corporation with its revenue, has been under threat in the past, but this time, it’s proved the lightning rod for more dissent, with a citizen’s campaign to defund the BBC. How did we get here? Where should we go? Where will we go?
The independent viability of the BBC from the government of the day has always been significantly a matter of convention. Any Government that took on the BBC was likely to suffer, politically, as a result. But since the last election, the political calculus has changed.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters