Narrative from Downing Street suggests that maybe our Prime Minister might finally question the BBC and its relevance to us in its present state. In my view, and let me be upfront from the start, the BBC has lost its way. It appears to be abusing its power as the national privileged broadcaster. It is run by people with an agenda, their own biased agenda that is more woke than common sense. It has been granted such powers that not paying the licence fee becomes a criminal offence. With all this privilege comes responsibility, and in my view the BBC has failed in its duty of care to its own charter.
They often say that BBC is ‘an independent world beating broadcaster’, one that is the very custodian of ‘journalistic integrity’. Nothing can be further from the truth.
The BBC was and is the organisation whose principal surrounds undermining nations, people and cultures, or how it will promote those it favours. Its worldwide dominance was created in an era when the UK was an imperial master. It needed a means to send a message to all corners of the world which turned the listener into believing everything it was narrating. And let us be honest, we have to applaud the BBC for executing that to perfection. The world still tunes into BBC world service thinking they will always get unbiased news and commentary. Those who have freed themselves from this smokescreen have come to learn of the shady nature of its programming.
Take any week and look at its programming. You will see BBC News that peddles its bias in what it says and how it says it. Look at the dramas and you will see an underlying theme that is leaning towards the left. Look at the comedy programmes and the majority are leaning towards the left. Look at its sports commentators and you will see the likes of Linekar who have taken a pro-left stand. These are just a few domestic examples. Go further afield and you see how it treats different countries and different cultures. As a British Indian, let me be blunt – to me the BBC over the past five decades has come across as anti-India and anti-Hindu. From the way it reports events in India, to the way it describes the Indian PM, to the way it presents Hinduism and to the way in which anti-India/Hindu commentators are given so much access to voice their negativity.
I am certain that each one of you will have many more examples of how the BBC has used and abused its unique position to undermine certain countries, people and faiths.
I am therefore pleased that at the very least Downing Street has put the cat amongst the pigeons to get this debate started. I do not want the Government to control any of our media. However, I do not want any state funded enterprise to undermine the nation and its people either. The legal position of the BBC Licence fees needs addressing at the very least. However, in my view a more profound change is needed. One that is suitable for the world of tomorrow. If the licence fee becomes optional, giving me the opportunity to exercise a right to buy into the BBC or ignore it, that I can live with also.
People should not be trapped into a mindset that we cannot touch the BBC. That is the narrative of the fake merchants. The BBC costs us around £4 billion per year. We have a right and a duty to see that it gets sorted now.
