Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has described the BBC as “a global British brand” that “must be protected.”

Speaking to the Sunday Times,  Dorries said: “Our responsibility is to save the BBC from itself, because it is that polar bear on a shrinking ice cap.” She went on to say that “the BBC in its present format, in its present funding model, will not exist into the future. Whether I’m here or not, it will hit the buffers as more people refuse to pay the licence fee. You have to open your eyes and see what’s coming.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Dorries said: “There is a problem with groupthink within the BBC, and I don’t think those people think they are left or they are right. I think they just believe they are absolutely right about everything. And they have a world view and a view of the UK, which is, I think, sometimes very wrong.”

Dorries’ appointment in October last year, was greeted with widespread concern by much of the media industry. In January, Dorries, confirmed that the BBC licence fee would be frozen at £159 until April 2024, saying she could “not justify extra pressure on the wallets of hardworking households”.

Pippa Considine

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