The government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson often under-performs but never under-sells. Mr Johnson frequently describes his achievements as “world leading,” although the facts frequently say otherwise. And so when the British Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries promises a “golden age” of British broadcasting to compete with streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, there is considerable scepticism, especially since the BBC remains the world’s most famous, and by staff numbers, the world’s largest broadcaster. It has 22,000 employees including 2,000 journalists. It is unclear what Ms Dorries’ new “golden age” will look like, but some detect a vendetta against existing broadcasters, including the BBC and the independent TV Channel 4.
The BBC began exactly a century ago. Since 1922 there has often been a love-hate relationship between British governments and the broadcaster, which is funded by the licence fee, a tax on all those who watch television. The amount is set by the government. That means the BBC is editorially independent yet financially often a political football. Ms Dorries is kicking the football now. Originally called the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC was first funded by big business, the high-tech media barons of the 1920s, the makers of "the wireless," that new-fangled invention we now call radio.
The funders lost money, so the British government stepped in, renamed it the British Broadcasting Corporation and most recently set the licence fee at £159 a year. That’s just 43p a day. It allows British people access to numerous national and local TV and radio channels, programmes, podcasts, films, dramas, international news and catch-up services. Buying just one quality British newspaper, The Times or The Guardian, costs more than £2 a day. But now the licence fee, and therefore the BBC itself, is under threat.
Ms Dorries has already frozen the licence fee for two years and says it should be scrapped completely. She is unclear how the BBC will subsequently be funded. Ms Dorries is a colourful character. She is the author of some novels, but has endured mixed reviews both for her fiction and her politics. Her 2014 novel The Four Streets was described as “the worst novel I have read in 10 years,” by The Daily Telegraph. The New Statesman offered the worst criticism possible of fiction, writing that “Dorries is just not very good at making things up”.
Every significant British prime minister in living memory, whether on the political left or right, has had rows with the BBC
As Culture Secretary she has repeatedly been accused of being clueless about the job, suggesting, for example, that the independent Channel 4 TV costs the British taxpayer money. It does not. One critic sarcastically suggested Ms Dorries has “written more books than she has read”. Then, in a bizarre interview, she explained that her job included ensuring access to “tennis pitches” instead of tennis courts, that viewers could “downstream” TV programmes (perhaps she meant downloading streaming services?), and that the internet in Britain would be made the safest in the world. The meaning again was unclear.
Ms Dorries responds that she mixes up words because she has dyslexia, but her critics worry that she is pursuing her political vendetta to neutralise the BBC, Channel 4 and other critics because she – and her Conservative colleagues – view journalists as left wing or liberal or biased against her party.
In this Ms Dorries is at least treading in the footsteps of giants. Every significant British prime minister in living memory, whether on the political left or right, has had rows with the BBC. Many tried to clip its wings. The BBC coverage of the 1956 Suez crisis was disliked by those in power. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher tried to silence – literally – BBC coverage of Republican paramilitary groups during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Mrs Thatcher also wanted to scrap the BBC licence fee and force it to take advertising. Labour prime minister Tony Blair demanded an inquiry into critical BBC coverage of the Iraq war of 2003. That led to the resignation of the BBC’s chairman and director general.
In the past century the BBC has also had countless inquiries into its editorial standards, its future, its impartiality (or lack of) and its funding. Left wing commentators, such as Owen Jones, claim the BBC is a nest of right wing establishment characters. Perhaps the decades of criticism simply signpost the BBC’s importance in British public life and culture. But Ms Dorries may change that. The funding row, and uncertainty about the future, risks destroying one of the greatest British institutions and among the most trusted news sources in the world.
I am biased, because I worked for the BBC for years. I therefore politely suggest that someone in Ms Dorries’ Culture department should dig out the 1980s Peacock inquiry, which was a review into the BBC's financing, ordered by Margaret Thatcher. Professor Peacock – to Mrs Thatcher’s surprise – concluded that rather than advertising or subscription, the BBC licence fee was the “least worst option” for ensuring the continuation of a national treasure. Sadly, even if Ms Dorries is eventually persuaded, it is a mistake to undermine the one British institution which for a century has truly been “world leading,” the uncertainty she has created means some of the damage already done will be difficult to repair.
Match info
Premier League
Manchester United 2 (Martial 30', Lingard 69')
Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26', Rojo 68' OG)
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Match statistics
Dubai Sports City Eagles 8 Dubai Exiles 85
Eagles
Try: Bailey
Pen: Carey
Exiles
Tries: Botes 3, Sackmann 2, Fourie 2, Penalty, Walsh, Gairn, Crossley, Stubbs
Cons: Gerber 7
Pens: Gerber 3
Man of the match: Tomas Sackmann (Exiles)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Abu Dhabi GP Saturday schedule
12.30pm GP3 race (18 laps)
2pm Formula One final practice
5pm Formula One qualifying
6.40pm Formula 2 race (31 laps)
AIDA%20RETURNS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAida%20Abboud%2C%20Carol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5.%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
More coverage from the Future Forum
Credits
Produced by: Colour Yellow Productions and Eros Now
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jassi Gill, Piyush Mishra, Diana Penty, Aparshakti Khurrana
Star rating: 2.5/5
The%20Roundup
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Ma%20Dong-seok%2C%20Sukku%20Son%2C%20Choi%20Gwi-hwa%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
STAR%20WARS%20JEDI%3A%20SURVIVOR
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Respawn%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electronic%20Arts%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsoles%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PC%2C%20Playstation%205%2C%20Xbox%20Series%20X%20and%20S%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
List of alleged parties
May 15 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at
least 17 staff members
May 20 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'bring your own booze'
party
Nov 27 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary
Gavin Williamson
Dec 13 2020: PM and Carrie throw a flat party
Dec 14 2020: London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative
Party headquarters
Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
Other key dates
-
Finals draw: December 2
-
Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
-
Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
Kandahar%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ric%20Roman%20Waugh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EGerard%20Butler%2C%20Navid%20Negahban%2C%20Ali%20Fazal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
