Beorn
03-05-2010, 11:56 PM
PLAID CYMRU last night ditched its long-standing support for the BBC following the decision to exclude them from the televised leadership debates in the run-up to the general election.
Instead, the party, alongside its Scottish counterpart the SNP, is likely to back the devolution of broadcasting – a move that could see the end of the BBC itself.
Plaid and the SNP have been infuriated by the decision to screen three so-called prime ministerial debates involving Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Yesterday MPs of both parties agreed to begin a review of their respective broadcasting policies. Historically both parties have supported the continuation of the BBC licence fee.
Two years ago the King Report – commissioned by the BBC Trust – concluded that BBC network news was too London-centric, and that there was a particular need to cover more political stories from Wales and Scotland.
Plaid and the SNP said the decision over the election debates showed lessons had not been learnt and that it was time to confront the issue head-on.
Plaid’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd said: “The joint Plaid Cymru and SNP parliamentary group work closely in the UK Parliament, speaking up for the interests of the people of Wales and Scotland which are often ignored by the UK Government.
“This morning we met to discuss the unfair treatment of Welsh and Scottish licence-fee payers who are being denied the opportunity by the public broadcaster to hear from their respective national parties in these set-piece leadership debates.
“It is unacceptable for the people of Wales and Scotland to be short-changed in this way and for the leaders of London parties to be given an additional 90 minutes of prime-time exposure.
“Canada’s state broadcaster, CBC, manages to achieve balance across five parties and two languages. It is deeply disappointing the BBC currently lacks the ambition to even try.”
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: “The broadcasters, in cahoots with the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour are attempting to exclude entire countries from these leaders debates.
“This debacle underlines why Scotland and Wales need a strong voice at Westminster. A stitch-up between the London-based BBC management and the London parties has disenfranchised voters in three countries.
“With the cavalier attitude of the London establishment continuing, we must devolve broadcasting to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, where the interests of Scottish and Welsh licence payers will be a priority, not an afterthought.”
Plaid MP Adam Price said: “Unlike the commercial broadcasters, the BBC is publicly funded and has a responsibility to reflect the new politics in the UK. Their approach is grossly insulting to the Celtic nations and reflects the fact that the instinct of BBC executives in London is to think in a London-centric way.
“By refusing to recognise their responsibility to the one-in-five licence payers who do not live in England, the BBC no longer deserves our support. In saying that, I make no criticism of BBC Wales at all. I know that many people at BBC Wales are privately dismayed at the decision taken about the election debates.
Up to this point, a certain degree of sympathy can be extracted even from the coldest heart, but then they decide to go down the twilight road...
Keep reading...
“The BBC might as well be called the EBC or the LBC (for England and London). If they are not prepared to take account of viewers in Wales and Scotland, then the licence fee should be scrapped and public service broadcasting funded by direct taxation on a devolved basis.”
Source (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/03/05/bbc-it-s-more-like-the-london-broadcasting-corporation-says-plaid-91466-25966578/)
:confused:
How can one individual seriously insinuate the BBC be English, or indeed pro-English? There is an actual English campaign at present which constantly bombards the BBC with strongly worded letters of advice and disapproval at the BBCs clear lack of actually recognising that a nation called England actually exists in the British Isles; and some Plaid member seriously believes the BBC to be English orientated?
[BeornWulfWer smells the whiskey he is drinking and rubs his eyes.]
Beggars belief. Besides, it seems to suit them when they want to be included amongst the British category, huh! :rolleyes:
Instead, the party, alongside its Scottish counterpart the SNP, is likely to back the devolution of broadcasting – a move that could see the end of the BBC itself.
Plaid and the SNP have been infuriated by the decision to screen three so-called prime ministerial debates involving Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Yesterday MPs of both parties agreed to begin a review of their respective broadcasting policies. Historically both parties have supported the continuation of the BBC licence fee.
Two years ago the King Report – commissioned by the BBC Trust – concluded that BBC network news was too London-centric, and that there was a particular need to cover more political stories from Wales and Scotland.
Plaid and the SNP said the decision over the election debates showed lessons had not been learnt and that it was time to confront the issue head-on.
Plaid’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd said: “The joint Plaid Cymru and SNP parliamentary group work closely in the UK Parliament, speaking up for the interests of the people of Wales and Scotland which are often ignored by the UK Government.
“This morning we met to discuss the unfair treatment of Welsh and Scottish licence-fee payers who are being denied the opportunity by the public broadcaster to hear from their respective national parties in these set-piece leadership debates.
“It is unacceptable for the people of Wales and Scotland to be short-changed in this way and for the leaders of London parties to be given an additional 90 minutes of prime-time exposure.
“Canada’s state broadcaster, CBC, manages to achieve balance across five parties and two languages. It is deeply disappointing the BBC currently lacks the ambition to even try.”
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson said: “The broadcasters, in cahoots with the Tories, Lib Dems and Labour are attempting to exclude entire countries from these leaders debates.
“This debacle underlines why Scotland and Wales need a strong voice at Westminster. A stitch-up between the London-based BBC management and the London parties has disenfranchised voters in three countries.
“With the cavalier attitude of the London establishment continuing, we must devolve broadcasting to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, where the interests of Scottish and Welsh licence payers will be a priority, not an afterthought.”
Plaid MP Adam Price said: “Unlike the commercial broadcasters, the BBC is publicly funded and has a responsibility to reflect the new politics in the UK. Their approach is grossly insulting to the Celtic nations and reflects the fact that the instinct of BBC executives in London is to think in a London-centric way.
“By refusing to recognise their responsibility to the one-in-five licence payers who do not live in England, the BBC no longer deserves our support. In saying that, I make no criticism of BBC Wales at all. I know that many people at BBC Wales are privately dismayed at the decision taken about the election debates.
Up to this point, a certain degree of sympathy can be extracted even from the coldest heart, but then they decide to go down the twilight road...
Keep reading...
“The BBC might as well be called the EBC or the LBC (for England and London). If they are not prepared to take account of viewers in Wales and Scotland, then the licence fee should be scrapped and public service broadcasting funded by direct taxation on a devolved basis.”
Source (http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/03/05/bbc-it-s-more-like-the-london-broadcasting-corporation-says-plaid-91466-25966578/)
:confused:
How can one individual seriously insinuate the BBC be English, or indeed pro-English? There is an actual English campaign at present which constantly bombards the BBC with strongly worded letters of advice and disapproval at the BBCs clear lack of actually recognising that a nation called England actually exists in the British Isles; and some Plaid member seriously believes the BBC to be English orientated?
[BeornWulfWer smells the whiskey he is drinking and rubs his eyes.]
Beggars belief. Besides, it seems to suit them when they want to be included amongst the British category, huh! :rolleyes: