Vote for Tories 'is vote for Fox News'
Ben Bradshaw did not specifically refer to Fox News
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By Richard James. |  |
Tuesday, 29, Sep 2009 11:34
By Matthew Champion.
The culture secretary has hinted that an incoming Conservative government could lead to an Americanisation of BBC News.
Ben Bradshaw told the Labour party conference anyone who has watched the news in America or continental Europe "can only be extremely grateful for the BBC".
Mr Bradshaw, a former BBC reporter himself, said Labour would "always be committed to the BBC and the values of public service broadcasting".
It is the most substantial rebuttal from the government to the rounding on the BBC by James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and heir apparent to his News Corp empire, who compared the corporation to a totalitarian government.
"No, Mr Murdoch, we do not believe that profit is the only guarantee of independence," Mr Bradshaw said today in Brighton.
"We will never sacrifice the BBC on the altar of free market dogma."
But Mr Bradshaw, elevated from the Department of Health in this spring's emergency reshuffle, warned that "like all successful organisations, the BBC must change to survive".
"It must be more sensitive to the views of the public who pay for it and to the impact its power and size on the rest of the media," he added.
Mr Bradshaw, who looked ahead to a "golden decade" of sport in Britain of which the 2012 Olympics is the centrepiece, said Labour had delivered a "sporting... cultural and artistic renaissance" in its 12 years in government.
"British theatre, film, music and other creative industries are the best in the world," he said, pointing to doubled visitor numbers in the country's galleries and museums after entrance fees were abolished.
He claimed that mayor of London Boris Johnson's hints at resuming the fees should help the party and "wake up and wake the British people up".
"One of my predecessors in this job, the great Jenny Lee - said our mission, Labour's mission is to ensure the best for all," he added.
"That's what Labour's done, that's what we're doing and that's what we'll continue to do. The Tories never have; they never would. We must ensure they never will."