BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has warned that the Tories’ proposal to freeze the licence fee this year is the first step in a dangerous path towards the BBC losing its independence.
David Cameron’s party has forced a vote in the Commons on Wednesday in an attempt to block this year’s £3 rise to £142.50. The BBC’s funding, which currently stands at £3.6bn a year, is agreed every five years.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Lyons said he thought the Conservative bill was not “fully thought through”.
“[Year-by-year funding settlements] I am quite clear we would come to regret because it would move, step by step, to the erosion of the independence of the BBC,” he said.
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