Downing Street has denied that the government is pursuing an agenda against the BBC after the culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, accused the corporation of bias and argued that it needed to adapt or risk losing the trust of audiences.
Rishi Sunak said impartiality was an “important tenet” of the UK media industry while on a visit, but later his official spokesperson declined to say whether the prime minister agreed with Frazer’s comments about the BBC.
Asked whether it was right to say the government was pursuing an agenda against the BBC, the spokesperson replied: “No. This is rightly about ensuring the BBC is able to continue to thrive long into the future.”
Ofcom, the media watchdog, will be given more powers to investigate the BBC, while the organisation’s board could get responsibility over its complaints process, under proposals in a midterm review of its governance and regulations.
Frazer told Times Radio on Monday: “This isn’t about the government. This is about impartiality and not just about politics. Audiences are feeling like impartiality and the BBC is on a downward trajectory.”
She said the BBC was “a fantastic public institution”, adding: “It’s really important that it maintains the public’s trust. And what we’ve been hearing is that some audiences think it’s biased.”
When it was put to her that perceptions are not necessarily reality, she said: “There are only perceptions and perceptions are important. What’s important about the BBC is that it’s funded by the public, so the perception of audiences, of the public, are important.”
Asked by Sky News whether she personally thought the BBC was biased, Frazer said: “I think that on occasions it has been biased.”
However, she struggled to give examples of bias, repeatedly citing the BBC’s reporting of an attack on a hospital in Gaza, which was initially attributed to Israel but which western intelligence later concluded was the result of a misfiring Hamas rocket.
Labour’s shadow culture secretary, Thangam Debbonaire, criticised Frazer’s remarks, posting on X: “Just the latest in a long line of secretaries of state for culture wars. Attacking and undermining one of our greatest institutions at every chance they get.
“Instead of using it as a punching bag the government should be supporting the BBC to create wealth, jobs and joy.”
On a visit to the National Film and Television school in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Sunak said: “I think all elements of the media industry have to be subject to the same impartiality rules. I think that’s what people would expect and that’s what makes our media institutions so great.
“We have a free and fair press and impartiality is at the heart of what makes the BBC a strong institution.”
Frazer also said it was not appropriate for the BBC to have “criminal tools in its armoury” to prosecute people for not paying their TV licence fee. She has said she will look at the prosecutions in a review into BBC funding.
The midterm review did not look at how the BBC should be funded. In December, Frazer confirmed that the licence fee, which funds much of the corporation’s operations, would rise by £10.50 to £169.50 a year.
The BBC board, in a strongly worded statement, said the below-inflation increase would “require further changes on top of the major savings that we are already delivering”. The BBC’s royal charter – which sets out the corporation’s mission, purpose and funding model – is up for renewal at the end of 2027.
Ofcom received 918 complaints about BBC impartiality last year, accounting for 39% of all the grievances it received about the broadcaster, and an increase on the 594 bias complaints it received in 2021-22, which equated to 19% of the total.
Since the current charter came into force in 2017, the BBC has upheld or partially upheld 29 breaches of impartiality, including four last year.
A BBC spokesperson said “no other organisation takes its commitment to impartiality more seriously” and the organisation had plans to further improve standards.
“We know this matters to audiences and the BBC continues to be the number one source for trusted news, with the highest scores for impartiality and accuracy,” they said.
