Speeches by Whittingdale.

“I think we are coming to the end, so I will ask a wrap-up question. The World Service has obviously suffered cuts to its budget. There have been questions sometimes about its impartiality in certain areas, and its global reach has fallen quite considerably in the last few years. Do you think that trust in the BBC World…”

“So it is a money question.”

“Would the others agree?”

“Is there not a slight risk that that might be seen to be politicising the management of the World Service?”

“So we do not recreate Bush House.”

“As we have discussed, funding of the World Service has flip-flopped from Government to the licence fee payer and so on, and each has advantages and disadvantages, as the previous witnesses set out. I understand that you have put forward a suggestion that I think Michael Grade first advanced: the idea of splitting the E…”

“Why does it have to go to the BBC board?”

“But is it your intention that the British Council should become self-sustaining?”

“Lastly, can I ask you about the British Council. The British Council has been sustained by loans from the Foreign Office, particularly post covid. Do you believe that there is any chance of the British Council becoming self-sustaining, and what would the consequence be if it ceased to be able to receive that funding fr…”

“Perhaps we should pursue this with the Foreign Secretary. Baroness Chapman said that if it was made public, the price could go up. Do you know why that should be the case?”

“Will it have strings attached?”

“Well, I don’t think that is the case with regards to Cyprus—”

“We are proposing to make a payment to another country—in this case, Mauritius. Why can you not say how much we are going to give Mauritius?”

“The MoD made public its arrangements over Cyprus. If the MoD can do it over Cyprus, why can’t you?”

“Can I ask you about another piece of unquantified funding—that is, the agreement with Mauritius over Diego Garcia? The Government have announced that you are going to make an annual payment. Is that coming out of your budget, and how much is it?”

“So the Foreign Office does not have a view as to whether or not they should pay for it.”

“The Foreign Office used to fund the BBC and the World Service in its entirety. It was then fully funded by the licence fee, and it is now partly funded by you and partly by the licence fee. The director general has made it clear that he does not think that is a satisfactory arrangement, and he thinks the Foreign Office…”

“Very quickly—the Foreign Office has embassies, often for historical reasons, in very iconic buildings in prime locations in cities. I am sure the Treasury would say that we could sell those, raise huge amounts of money and move to nice concrete buildings in the suburbs. Do you recognise that the UK’s reputation and pre…”

“Obviously, the world changes constantly; new countries emerge, and others become more important. Is there any possibility of the Foreign Office wishing to open new embassies?”

“The constraint on opening new embassies or consulates is financial, rather than necessarily what would be good for the UK.”