Channel 4 sell-off could be ditched, new culture secretary says, after protests

Michelle Donelan will also look again at future of BBC licence fee – after Nadine Dorries outlined overhaul

The controversial sell-off of Channel 4 could be ditched, the new culture secretary has suggested, as Liz Truss’s new government reviews its broadcasting policy.

Michelle Donelan also said she would look again at the future of the BBC licence fee – after her predecessor, Nadine Dorries, outlined plans to overhaul the broadcaster’s funding model.

And she confirmed a review of the Online Safety Bill, after Tory MPs joined criticism that the intent to restrict some “legal but harmful” speech is an assault on free speech.

The privatisation of Channel 4 is among the most hotly contested policies inherited from the Johnson government, with widespread fears it will severely damage small production companies.

Ms Donelan said she would look at whether “we still agree with that decision”, telling BBC Radio 4: “As the prime minister said, we do need to re-examine the business case and that’s certainly what I’m doing.

“I’m the type of politician that bases their decisions on evidence, on listening, and that’s what I will be doing over the coming weeks. I will take that approach when it comes to Channel 4 and every aspect of my brief.”

Ms Dorries, when culture secretary, argued privatising Channel 4, which has been publicly owned since its launch in 1982, would free it up to sell its own content.

But even some Tories questioned whether the move was “revenge” for anger over what some ministers have long claimed is its anti-Conservative political coverage.

Senior Tories including Damian Green, Jeremy Wright and Helen Grant, the Tory chair of the Channel 4 all-party parliamentary group, criticised the proposal.

John McVay, chief executive of Pact, the trade body for independent TV and film production companies, said: “The new prime minister has made it clear her priority is to drive growth.

“Privatising Channel 4 would do the opposite, endangering the future of thousands of British production companies and endangering the future prospects of a thriving industry which has a presence right across the country.

“It literally makes no sense to try and find a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist and that is why I am delighted that the new culture secretary has committed to re-examining the business case for privatising Channel 4.”

Ms Dorries announced the next licence fee deal “would be the last”, but her successor said she would be “looking at this in the round”.

However, she said: “It is no secret that I have been a long-term sceptic of the licence fee and that we need to make sure that the BBC is sustainable in the long term.”

The government would bring back the Online Safety Bill “as soon as we possibly can”, but she admitted work is being done about the free speech concerns.

Ms Donelan said there would be no watering down of the protection the bill creates for what children can view online.

“We’re not changing any of that, but we want to make sure that we’ve got the balance right in terms of free speech in relation to adults,” she said.