Ridiculous BBC bias has put the licence fee at risk, claims Downton creator
THE creator of Downton Abbey has accused the BBC of putting the TV licence fee at risk by being biased.
Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes claims the broadcaster is alienating audiences by refusing to reflect the views of the majority.
In an apparent attack on the Beeb’s political stance and Brexit coverage, the 70-year-old peer said having public money gave it a responsibility.
“I think it’s very difficult to justify tax expenditure being used by a corporation that does not show a broad spectrum of beliefs and philosophies,” he said. “I think if you are going to do it on public money then you do have a responsibility.”
He added: “When you think the side they are not representing is essentially the majority, then the situation becomes even more ridiculous.”
Freedom
Brexit supporter Lord Fellowes, whose new ITV drama, Belgravia, starts on Sunday, said Britain’s other public service operator, Channel 4, had more freedom because it is funded by advertising revenue.
He said: “They can do what they like and if people don’t want to advertise on it, then OK.
“But I don’t think you can take public money and have no obligation to more than half the population.”
His outburst came as former BBC economics editor Robert Peston described the corporation’s Brexit coverage as “disappointing”.
Mr Peston, political editor for ITV since 2015, said the broadcaster had “confused balance with due impartiality”. He told how a piece he had produced on the economic implications of Scottish independence was pulled by bosses just days before the vote in 2014 over fears it would infuriate Alex Salmond, Scotland’s then first minister.
The disquiet over alleged bias has already damaged the Beeb’s relations with Boris Johnson’s government, with the number of interviews given to it reportedly limited.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told a media conference last week: “The BBC needs to be closer to, and understand the perspectives of, the whole of the UK and avoid providing a narrow urban outlook.”
A spokesman for the BBC said last night: “The licence fee continues to ensure the BBC is an independent, universal broadcaster, committed to serving everyone.”
Belgravia is a six-part period drama, starring Tamsin Greig and Philip Glenister. Set in London in the 1840s, it follows the decadent lives of a wealthy elite.