were, and i think that s a mistake and we do try and press ofcom harder on that. but it s radio one and radio two that people worry about as being too commercial and, you know, getting into territory that they shouldn t be in? y. to a degree, although i think you have to acknowledge if you re going to allow the bbc to be in the radio business, it s going to have to be in most bits of the radio business and therefore it will be in the popular music end. but we expect, if they re being funded the way they are, that that they do more than just play the hits that they have a breadth of music and a breadth of subject matter which, you know, should be in a contract that they have with the population, if you like, through their ofcom contract, and that needs to be enforced. and the other element you ve said, katie is the bbc is extraordinarily well funded compared to the commercial sector. and i think one of our concerns has always been that they appear to be so well funded that they
in the north on wednesday. milder by this stage. hello, this is bbc news. i m shaun ley. the headlines: the former conservative minister nusrat ghani says she was sacked from herjob because of her muslim faith. the government chief whip says that s false. the justice secretary says a formal complaint is needed to trigger an inquiry. since then, nusrat ghani has said
britain is accusing russia of planning to install a pro kremlin leader in ukraine, as fears of an invasion grow. the foreign office in london says a former ukrainian mp is being considered as a potential candidate along with four others who it says have links to russian intelligence services. a un official in tonga says the country will be heavily reliant on aid shipments for some time, after last week s devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami. a national emergency team says more than 80% of the population has been affected by the disaster. new zealand is limiting gatherings after nine cases of the covid 19 omicron variant were detected following a wedding. the prime minister, jacinda ardern, said from midnight on sunday there would be a cap of 100 fully vaccinated people at events. ms ardern has cancelled her own wedding as a result. now on bbc news, it s
but is there really such an operation? we re also looking at the apparently cosy relationship between those in government who set policy, and the media, which is supposed to hold them to account. and we re asking what the new bbc licence fee deal means for the industry at large. let me introduce you to my guests. first, joeyjones was spokesman for theresa may when she was home secretary. before that, he was a deputy political editor at sky news. helen lewis writes for the atlantic. laura hughes is political correspondent for the financial times. and phil riley is the chief executive of boom radio and has had a long career in commercial radio, including running chrysalis and overseeing its sale to global and, phil, we ll be talking a lot in the programme about the revolving door between journalism and politics. times radio havejust snapped up ruth davidson, the former scottish conservative leader. why are ex politicians so popular with you radio executives? any room for one more on boom
there is a big problem with the licence fee coming because, ultimately, young people aren t. they re not watching on tv. so in some ways, a licence fee has to attach it to itself to some other form of infrastructure that s more universally used. and also, young people aren t consuming bbc content in the way that older people do. but that s something that needs to be considered. the argument that the government appears to want to be having is the wrong argument. ok, well, radio 4 is taking a deep dive into all these issues about how to fund the bbc if the licence fee goes. the briefing room with david aaronovitch is on thursday evening at 8pm on radio 4 and available via bbc sounds afterwards, for listeners now who want even more on the licence fee! but for us today, let s zoom out of these discussions for a moment, because within all these newspaper scoops about operation red meat and parties at downing street, there are some pretty difficult questions for the media to answer. for exam