Had the chance on Thursday to question Mark Thompson and Lord Patten, the leaders of the BBC and put constituents views to them concerning what the BBC spends our money upon:
The taxpayer spends £145.50 a year on the licence fee and the BBC is doing a review of how it spends this money on BBC output.
I have had many representations from constituents, and also talked with my colleague, Esther McVey, the Wirral MP and former BBC and ITV presenter. We both agree that the BBC should be looking to safeguard certain key local facilites like Local Radio and TV, which are extremely popular with viewers for a multitude of reasons, and cutting back on BBC TV channels like BBC3 and BBC4 - that cost a fortune and very few people watch. Mark Thompson was very sniffy when I suggested that instead of salami slicing he should focus on what his audience wants [he cited the importance of screening every night of the Proms concerts from the Albert Hall as a justification for BBC 3 and 4].
One thing is very clear - all the MPs I met at this meeting [and previous ones] made cross party representations attacking the BBC chiefs for seeking to cut local services, as opposed to expensive TV.
You can help by writing in yourself to the BBC before the December 21st deadline. Apparently the Proms lovers are writing to Mark so get your friends to give him the local view.
