BBC should be owned by those who pay for it, Lisa Nandy says

Mutual organisations such as John Lewis are owned by and run for the benefits of its members

Labour leadership candidate Lisa Nandy has called for the BBC to be directly owned by the people who pay for it to boost accountability.

Ms Nandy said she would like to see the public broadcaster “mutualised” as part of a wider shake-up to ensure decisions are not taken “by a small group of men behind a desk in Westminster or Whitehall”.

Mutual organisations such as John Lewis are owned by and run for the benefits of its members who are involved in the business.

Ms Nandy suggested she would overhaul the ownership of the broadcaster and also ensure commissioning decisions for the BBC and Channel 4 are moved out of the capital as part of wider discussions on the media.

Her comments come amid tensions between No 10 and the BBC over the future of the licence fee and the decision by senior aides to ban Tory ministers from appearing on the flagship Today programme.

Asked about the “right-wing press” at a leadership hustings in Peterborough, Ms Nandy said all of the candidates would “face the same onslaught from the media” that Jeremy Corbyn was exposed to.

The Wigan MP said: “No Labour leader has ever escaped this. I think there is partly a reason for this because we are a thoroughly decent but we are a cautious country and we are a party that doesn’t accept the status quo and always goes out to fight for radical change.

“That means we have to meet a higher bar.”

Ms Nandy went on: “You’ve also got to actually ask yourself who owns the media and who runs it?

“I’d like to see us mutualise the BBC so that those decisions are taken by a wider group of people.

“I’d like to see us not just move the headquarters of Channel 4 and the BBC out of London but commissioning power too, so what gets made and what gets said is not determined by a small group of men behind a desk in Westminster and Whitehall.”

Under her proposal, the BBC would be owned and directed by licence fee holders, rather than a funding model dependent on consultations with the government.

At the same event, Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Corbyn had faced unjust levels of criticism but Labour needed to be realistic that it had to win the next election under the same conditions

The shadow Brexit secretary said: “Jeremy Corbyn was vilified going into that general election, absolutely vilified. It wasn’t just during the election period, it was for all the time he was leader of the Labour Party and there was purpose behind it – there was spite behind it but there was purpose.

“The purpose was to stop an incoming radical Labour government actually changing things which elements in the press didn’t want changed. It has to be called out for what it is.”

Sir Keir said there was “no point moaning” about the press, saying Labour should focus on winning the next election and then bring about changes.

Rebecca Long-Bailey said the party had to accept that there would be no leader suitable for “those who want to destroy the Labour party” and called for a new rebuttal unit to combat negative press.

The shadow business secretary said: “To those elements of the media who are open, transparent – yes criticise us for our policies and things that we say. But to those that just want to smear us and assassinate our characters, I’m afraid that we have better things to do with our time.”

It comes as Labour members and supporters received their ballots, with voting for a new leader and deputy due to begin on Monday.

The winners will be announced at a special conference on 4 April.