Hands Off Channel 4

During this period of uncertainty both on the domestic and international front, when we need firm leadership at the top, Johnson seeks out more red meat policies to head off a leadership challenge from the many unhappy members of his party. Many of these red meat policies have little support amongst the general public, but cater for a small group of ultra-loyalist right wing MPs. The work of the political vandal in Number 10 therefore continues unabated. After having cut us off from Thatcher's Single Market which has contributed dramatically to economic post-war growth, Johnson has turned on another of the legacies of Margaret Thatcher. A group of senior Conservative MPs have now written to the Prime Minister asking him not to privatise Channel 4. This TV channel is both self-sufficient and successful. It has no support from taxpayers. Margaret Thatcher created Channel 4 in 1982 as a publicly owned, non-profit public sector broadcaster that would act as an innovator for small independent producers. Channel 4 is editorially independent and receives its funding from advertising. She had a view which has worked remarkably well. Channel 4 is an engine of small production company growth outside the M25, on which it has overdelivered, and plays a crucial role in the UK's most internationally successful creative industry. Yet we are being asked to sacrifice all this. The more cynical amongst us may think that this is yet another attempt to silence unflattering media reporting. Yes, it is true that Channel 4's brand of serious investigative and challenging reporting is not afraid to speak truth to power, whether on the left or right. However, our Prime Minister Johnson, a former journalist, should know that is what a free press is all about.