Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has said that Channel 4’s founding remit to stimulate independent film and TV production in the UK “has been done”, and that as a result, it’s the “right time to sell Channel 4”.

She also revealed that any sale of Channel 4 would include a clause to keep the channel as a free-to-watch public broadcaster for ten years after its sale, indicating other forms of funding like a subscription model could not be introduced for a decade.

Dorries said that the Government was still “working through the detail” on how or whether the public broadcaster remit will be enforced by the Government once that ten year period has passed.