BBC: defund or defend?

Motion: This house believes we should abolish the licence fee.

Editorial errors, ideological bias and partisan presenters – what has happened to the BBC? Once considered a national treasure and a bastion of pioneering journalism around the world, ‘Auntie’ is now just as likely to make the headlines as to report them. Is it time to defund – or defend – this once great institution?

Recent controversies have shaken trust in the Corporation and provoked fierce controversy, from allegations of editorial bias (Gaza, net zero, trans rights) and poor judgment (Bob Vylan’s appearance at Glastonbury, that edited Donald Trump speech) to high-profile resignations (Richard Sharp, Tim Davie, Deborah Turness) and sexual scandals (Jimmy Savile, Huw Edwards, Rolf Harris).

The BBC’s traditional funding model, centred on the licence fee, is also increasingly under strain as the wider media landscape shifts. Audiences are fragmenting across global streaming platforms and social media, while rising production costs and intense competition from commercial giants are all hitting the Corporation hard. Licence-fee evaders and refuseniks now cost the BBC £1 billion a year in lost revenue, putting its public service remit even further at risk.

So is the BBC still a vital public service that ‘educates, informs, and entertains’ the nation – or a relic from the past? Watch The Spectator’s Charles Moore, who was fined after refusing to pay his licence fee, and the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson go up against Spectator editor and former BBC journalist Michael Gove and former BBC America editor Jon Sopel at this very special event.