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A photograph taken of a document being held by an individual leaving Downing Street on Thursday suggests that the UK government is looking to privatise Channel 4, a move which could effectively have a devastating impact upon the broadcaster’s output.
Channel 4 is a not-for-profit broadcaster, though the Conservatives reportedly believe that it could be worth around £1 billion if it was privatised. Now a document photographed by Steve Back, who goes by the Twitter handle @PoliticalPics, suggests that the Tories are looking to do just that. The document, marked “Sensitive: Commercial”, reads: “In your recent meeting with Matt Hancock you agreed that work should proceed to examine the options for extracting greater public value from the Channel 4 Corporation (C4C), focusing on privatisation options in particular, whilst protecting its ability to deliver against its remit.
The document continues: “This submission outlines the options we proposee to explore, working with ShEx and CO. It is also set out next steps in pursuing that work, including a recommendation that you write to C4C requesting that they open their books to ShEx to enable more meaningful options analysis.”
Image Credit: Steve Banks
The ShEx referenced in the document refers to the Shareholder Executive, a government agency which was recently responsible for the privatisation of the Royal Mail.
It is uncertain where a potential privatisation would leave Channel 4, though the broadcaster has previously made comments claiming that if such a move were to be made, they would struggle to obtain the funding to produce some of the least viewed shows.
An official statement from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said via the BBC: “Channel 4 has an important remit and we are looking at a range of options as to how to continue to deliver this, including options put forward by Channel 4.”
