BBC Sounds: Access from Abroad

Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a really important point. The way that this whole agenda gets taken forward is clearly key. I recommend that noble Lords read the speech by the director-general, which I thought was very thoughtful about where he sees the BBC going. I hope noble Lords will take some reassurance that he sees the responsibility of the BBC in both a national and a world context. The Government also see the significance of issues such as that. I am afraid I was not old enough to remember the 1956 conflict that the noble Lord mentions—in fact, I was not born—but I will feed his points back to both DCMS and FCDO colleagues.

[Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke (Lab)]

My Lords, I am delighted that we have so many youngsters in your Lordships’ House. I echo the fact that the BBC is an important source of soft power. Like many Members of the House, I worked abroad, and I ended up with an addiction to the BBC World Service. When I confessed that addiction, I discovered that people from all countries shared my addiction to the World Service. If we squander that, we squander a big part of our influence abroad. I hope the Government will recognise that. I am encouraged by what the Minister has said, but we really need to keep the pressure on regarding this issue.

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

It is only in your Lordships’ House that I am referred to as a youngster, and long may that continue. Reflecting on my noble friend’s comments, I will say that under the original proposals the international audience will still be able to use and access radio for the World Service and the BBC’s journalism for free through bbc.com. Clearly, the BBC is reviewing and refining the plans, but I think we can all agree that we should be proud of how the BBC is such a significant part of our soft power globally.