Thank you for contacting me about proposals to change the ownership model of Channel 4.

I share your concerns about the Government’s intentions to privatise our media landscape. It would be a massive loss to see Channel 4 being sold off to the highest bidder. Great British TV belongs in the UK, and should be protected for the future.

For nearly four decades, Channel 4 has created an endless list of brilliant, progressive and world-leading programmes. I believe it is a British success story which was established to provide distinctive output and to drive forward growth in the independent TV production sector, and it has far exceeded these goals. In addition, its sharp, challenging, diverse and entertaining programming does very well in appealing to a wider and younger audience.

I believe the decision to press ahead with proposals to privatise Channel 4 does not have any solid evidence behind it. Indeed, Channel 4 has just had one of its best financial years on record and has reported an increase in viewing figures across all its platforms.

This is not an act of a serious Prime Minister, instead it is a cynical attempt to appeal to her backbenchers. This is a completely unnecessary distraction and waste of crucial time, which should be focused instead on tackling the cost of living crisis.

Furthermore the Government has said that now is the time to strengthen public service broadcasters, and that the consultation is to ensure that Channel 4 has a viable and sustainable future. It argues that changes in advertising will put its funding under pressure, as Channel 4 is paid for by advertising, and that it needs to adapt because of competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon.

I believe that this misses the point, as Channel 4 was created to be different, diverse and daring, and to champion the under-represented voices of this country. It does not need to spend millions of pounds to compete, it needs to do what it does best and create fundamentally British content that speaks to and represents British audiences.

In my view, these proposals would also be catastrophic for the creative industry, because of Channel 4’s investment in the sector and in regional television and production.