David Lammy
Main Page: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Mr David Lammy (Tottenham) (Lab)
I, too, welcome the Secretary of State’s historic decision to make diversity a public purpose; I congratulate him on that. It is something I felt the Labour Government should have done when we were in power. The truth is that, at that time, we rightly made the important decisions to extend the scope of the BBC fully to grip the nations. The move to Salford has been part of that. Does the Secretary of State agree, however, that diversity will need funds? I hope that the BBC will allocate the appropriate funds to ensure that diversity is delivered, both on and off screen.
Mr Whittingdale
I hugely appreciate the right hon. Gentleman’s remarks. He has an extremely strong track record of campaigning in this area, and for him to welcome our proposals in this way is extremely encouraging. I also agree that there is a lot more work to do. It will be for the BBC to make decisions on the allocation of budgets and on how it goes about delivering on the new, explicit requirement that has been set out. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will continue to talk to the BBC about that, as will we.