Anxious Auntie: The BBC’s Charter needs renewal - get on with it

These are scary times at the BBC. After a decade of crises, the steady hand of Tony Hall has brought some calm and reassured the top brass, for now at least; but in the coming year a battle with a majority Tory Government looms, and there is every possibility that the Corporation will find its wings clipped. One of the causes of anxiety is that there are only 18 months left until the current Charter expires.

The last time the Charter was renewed, the deliberations took around three years. The Fixed Term Parliament Act means that every time the Charter is due for renewal, deliberations will begin just after a general election. That’s not good. A better approach might be to grant a longer licence, so that short-term political calculations are less likely to jeopardise the BBC’s future.

The main cause of worry in Broadcasting House, however, is the belief high up in the Tory party that the Corporation is biased against it. Whether or not David Cameron really did threaten to “close down” the BBC before the election, as its Political Editor Nick Robinson claims he (perhaps jovially) did, there is no love lost between No 10 and the Corporation. The new Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale, does know much about the arts, but he has generally been marked down as sceptical of whether the BBC spends its licence fee money well. Moreover, he and Mr Cameron are said to be less keen on the third leg of Lord Reith’s founding mission – to inform, educate and entertain – than other recent governments.

As we report today, the coming Budget could be a nasty shock for BBC staff. The Corporation has strong links to senior Tories, and extensive plans are in place for a long lobbying campaign. Ultimately, however, the BBC remains exposed to its perennial threat: an unsympathetic government who doesn’t trust its neutrality. In a heated, post-election environment, not much can be done about that.