Matt Warman
Main Page: Matt Warman (Conservative - Boston and Skegness)
Mr Whittingdale
Obviously, I welcome the BBC’s announcement of additional investment in Birmingham. The local newspaper initiative that I mentioned earlier is going to be based at BBC Birmingham. I am aware that Members representing west midlands constituencies have long pressed the BBC to do more. It is a matter for the BBC, but I welcome the fact that it is responding to that. I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman’s second point: the integrity and impartiality of the BBC is absolutely fundamental. It is the reason the BBC is respected around the world, and we are determined to preserve and, if anything, strengthen it.
Matt Warman (Boston and Skegness) (Con)
Online, some of the BBC’s content, such as football match reports and many other things, cannot always be found to be distinctive. Can my right hon. Friend reassure the House that this distinctiveness test will absolutely apply online as well as on television and radio?
Mr Whittingdale
I can give my hon. Friend that assurance. The BBC rightly wishes to make available its news content on whichever platform viewers and listeners choose to access it, and that includes online. There have been concerns that, sometimes, BBC online services have strayed too far away from that into soft news and beyond, and that represents unfair competition. The requirement for distinction will apply online just as it does to all other BBC services, and that can be adjudicated by Ofcom.