Labour pledges to strengthen the BBC’s independence and protect funding

theguardian.com:

Labour has pledged to strengthen the BBC’s political independence and retain it as a publicly-owned, public service broadcaster at the heart of British life, amid signs that a Tory government led by Liz Truss would wage war on the corporation.

Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, told the Observer she is examining a series of reforms to insulate the BBC from political pressures, including ending “revolving door” appointments of people in politics to top posts in the corporation, and extending the charter renewal period from 10 to 15 or 20 years to reduce pressures on BBC leaders to toe the government line.

The move by Labour follows explosive claims last week by the former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis that a Tory “agent” was “acting as the arbiter of BBC impartiality” from his seat on the corporation’s board. Although she did not name him, Maitlis was referring to Theresa May’s former director of communications, Robbie Gibb, who has since denied the claims.

With Truss, the foreign secretary, expected to become the next prime minister, there are signs that the Conservatives under her leadership will press ahead with radical changes to the BBC, including ending the licence fee in its current form. The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, an outspoken critic of the BBC and Channel 4, and a supporter of Truss, has said that the licence fee would be frozen for two years and signalled its end altogether, declaring in a tweet that “this licence fee announcement will be the last”.

Truss has also questioned the BBC’s accuracy during her six-week Tory leadership campaign. Speaking on the rightwing news channel GB News a week ago, she said she believed the BBC did not check its facts.

Yet some of the BBC’s best-known former