Channel 4

Lord Bishop of Southwark Excerpts

Wednesday 29th March 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, I do not agree with that.

[The Lord Bishop of Southwark]

Does the Minister agree that the United Kingdom has benefited enormously from publicly owned broadcasting and that this benefit is too little acknowledged in public discourse?

[Lord Ashton of Hyde]

My Lords, I agree that public service broadcasting has benefited this country. When we see that Channel 4’s remit states that it is required to produce:

“High-quality and distinctive programming … innovation, experimentation and creativity”,


and provide,

“alternative views and new perspectives”.

in order to:

“Appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society”,


we can see why that is the case.