Tories could 'rip up BBC's Royal Charter'

The Conservative Party could be ready to "rip up" the BBC's Royal Charter if it is voted into government at next year's general election, it has emerged.

Stipulating the BBC's licence fee remit, the current Royal Charter is due to expire in 2015. However, shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has cast doubt over whether a Conservative government would be prepared to back the charter.

Speaking to the Financial Times, he said that the corporation is now "out of touch with the hard times the rest of the electorate is going through".

"Sometimes what might be in the interests of the BBC as an institution is not in the interests of licence fee payers," he explained.

"We haven't made a decision on the timing, but we do think the structure has failed. We are looking into whether it would be appropriate to rip up the charter in the middle of it, or whether one should wait."

Hunt said that as the Tories believe that that there is a pressing failure in the BBC's structure, including a lack of effective regulation by the BBC Trust, the party would have a "very fundamental root-and-branch discussion" with the corporation.

He further revealed his intention to shelve the Digital Britain plan to impose a 50p monthly landline levy - designed to raise £175m towards future broadband growth - "as soon as possible" after moving into government.

He said that the Tories also oppose plans to use the £130m licence fee underspend from the Digital Switchover Help Scheme to boost the fortunes of other broadcasters.

Instead, Hunt wants to introduce further deregulation in commercial broadcasting, coupled with a major decrease in the BBC's dominance over the industry.

Illustrating the point, he said: "It might sound well and good for them to have, say, an angling website, but if it drove out of business every angling magazine in the country, you would have to question if it was the right sort of thing to do."