Conservatives will close BBC website

13 April 2012

THE BBC website, which is one of the most popular in Europe, faces being shut down if the Conservatives get back into office.

John Whittingdale, the party's right-wing culture spokesman, said: 'As a free-market Conservative, I will only support a nationalised industry if I'm persuaded that that is the only way to do it and if it were not nationalised it would not happen.'

In an interview with Guardian Unlimited, Whittingdale said the BBC site was 'fantastic', but added: 'That's because it's had a lot of money thrown at it.'

The Tories have launched a review of the BBC, chaired by former Channel Five chief executive David Elstein, ahead of the Government's own review of the broadcaster's internet services. This will be headed by former Trinity Mirror chief executive Philip Graf.

Whittingdale said: 'I am not persuaded that there is necessarily a case for a public service website. I'm not persuaded that anything on the BBC site could not be provided elsewhere.'

He said newspapers provided the same service. 'They are essentially trying to provide for the same market and therefore you can argue why do the licence fee payers need to be financing the BBC to do it when there are other commercial organisations doing the same thing.'

The British Internet Publishers' Alliance says the corporation has spent more than the £25m it pledged when it was allowed to run the service and that it unfairly promotes its websites on its TV and radio stations.

The BBC provoked controversy by submitting a defence ahead of the Government review announcement, stressing the size and robustness of the commercial internet market.

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