The Tories made 'repeated threats' against the BBC over its election coverage, a Labour advisor claims
Baldwin wrote in the Guardian on Wednesday:
BBC executives and journalists have told me that there were regular, repeated threats from senior Tories during this election campaign about "what would happen afterwards" if they did not do as they were told and fall into line.
The charge is a serious one. It is not known if the threats were successful or whether the BBC ignored them.
But the accusation comes following the appointment of John Whittingdale as culture secretary in his new Cabinet. Whittingdale is not seen as a friend of the BBC after he told an audience last year that the BBC licence fee is "worse than the poll tax" and "unsustainable." He wants to end criminal penalties for non-payment of the fee. Currently, you can in theory go to prison for not paying the fee, although few do.
If Baldwin is right, that hostility seems to be widespread with Conservative ranks.
Asked for comment by the Guardian's political editor Patrick Wintour, a Conservative spokesperson said the allegations ere "complete and utter nonsense."
Baldwin also admitted having made "almost daily complaints to the BBC on behalf of the Labour party" over the past year. When both sides are complaining about you, as the saying goes, you're probably doing a good job.
Nevertheless, hostility from the governing party and a minister keen to change the way that the BBC is funded could result in another upheaval for the broadcaster. Altering the licence fee by making it more flexible to changing viewer habits could result in further steep budget reductions for an organisation which has already seen 20% cuts following the six-year licence fee freeze brought in in 2010.
Not everyone will be panicking at the news, however. Its commercial rivals, such as ITV, see the way the organisation is funded, effectively through a tax, as an exorbitant privilege and have long argued that the playing field needs to be levelled.