Democracy in the BBC

Last night, I took part in a debate about the BBC. This was in advance of the second reading of my Private Member's Bill to democratise the BBC, which will happen this November.

You can read the whole debate HERE, or see my speech below.


Robert Halfon (Harlow) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend and near neighbour the Member for Southend West (Mr Amess) on securing this important debate. I believe that I can set out the answer to the problems that he has talked about this evening. I have campaigned since becoming a parliamentarian for the democratisation of the BBC licence fee. I have presented a ten-minute rule Bill and tabled many motions and questions on the subject. I agree with him that the BBC is a jewel in the crown. I think of the quote from Shimon Peres, who said that the BBC makes

“dictatorship impossible, but democracy intolerable”.

I, like my hon. Friend, love Essex Radio and “Look East”. We know that they provide essential services for people in my community, but the problem is that we are compelled to pay for the BBC and have no say over its cost or programming. The BBC is monopolistic, with about a third of TV viewing and half of radio, but it does not need to make a commercial return, so other providers are crowded out. We have no recourse and no means of redress. I do not object to the licence fee; I would be happy to pay double.

If my hon. Friend waits, I will answer his question in a second. I would pay double for the licence, but the problem is that we have taxation without representation. We do not tolerate that in politics, and there is no reason why we should tolerate it in our public media.


Under my private Member’s Bill on 25 November, the BBC would have to set out an annual plan and licence fee payers would vote. It is quite astonishing that licence fee payers had no say over the appointment of Chris Patten, whatever his merits might be. To those who say that voting would mean a decline in quality, I say that that attitude is mixture of ignorance and snobbery—ignorance because there is a market for quality, as Classic FM and other quality media show, and snobbery because that is like saying that the public should not be free to choose for themselves.

Mine is not a radical proposal. Company shareholders have the right to hire and fire their boards. Residents have the right to elect their MPs and councillors. Given that we are supposed to be the BBC’s owners and are compelled to pay for it, we should democratise the licence fee immediately and give licence fee payers the vote.

by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Statement in Response to Essex Police "Blueprint" Reform

Whilst I understand the reduction of hours in smaller Police stations, I think it is a major mistake not to have 24-hour access to the Police station in a busy town like Harlow - especially on weekends. I will be making this clear to the Essex Chief Constable and the Home Secretary as I respond to the consultation. Above all, we need to know how many people are using Harlow Police station after midnight.

On the plus side, Harlow Police station will still be manned 24-hours a day, even if it is not open to the public between midnight and 8am. The front counter may be shut, but the building will still be used as a base, and Police officers will be highly visible in the town centre. In fact, we will have more Police on our streets, with 55 new community officers (472 to 527) across Essex.

On top of this, I have been given strong assurances that Harlow Police patrols will continue 24-hours a day, and all crime hotlines and Police contact numbers will stay open 24-hours a day, too. Finally, the Police are setting up a new state of the art "Crime Bureau" to target anti-social behaviour in our town. This will also operate 24-hours a day.

You can read more detail HERE on the Essex Police website. This includes a video from Essex Chief Constable Jim Barker McCardle explaining his proposals.


by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com

Conservatives will protect Sure Start

I have written before, about Labour falsehoods about Conservative spending plans, and also their own planned cuts to public services. One matter that has really angered me, is that the Labour MP for Harlow, has put it about, that Conservatives will scrap Sure Start in Harlow. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Labour have accused the Conservatives of planning to cut £200 million from the Sure Start budget – almost 20 per cent – which, they claim is the equivalent of closing one in five children’s centres. This is an outrageous claim, and one which is designed to put fear into the local community about the future of Sure Start.

The facts are as follows: Conservatives fully support Sure Start. In fact we want to boost the Sure Start programme by making it work better by becoming more health-led. Despite the importance of a child’s early years, Labour have cut the number of properly-trained health visitors by 2,000. For this reason, Conservative plans also will pay for 4,200 new, trained health visitors. This will give parents much better support in the crucial early years of their child’s life.

I have no problem with a serious debate about levels of public spending and taxation - particularly given the huge level of debts we now face. But, this won't be achieved if Labour just try to promote a climate of fear about threats to local services, not least because their own budget plans threaten vital public facilities. Time for some more honesty, please.

P.S. In future blog postings, I will highlight other Labour party falsehoods about Conservative spending plans.

By Rob Halfon ~ Working hard for Harlow, Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering. http//roberthalfon.blogspot.com