Markus Andrews

The government is to launch a consultation into the privatisation of Channel 4 as part of shake-up of British television, ministers have confirmed.The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport announced the move on Wednesday after bosses at the broadcaster were quizzed on the issue by MPs a day earlier.Moving Channel 4 — home to The Great British Bake Off, It’s a Sin and Come Dine with Me — into private ownership and changing its remit could ensure its “future success and sustainability”, the department said in a statement.The consultation will also review regulation of streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.It will consider whether new rules around impartiality and accuracy are needed for documentaries and news content on the platforms to “level the playing field” with broadcasters, who are regulated by the watchdog Ofcom.Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Technology has transformed broadcasting but the rules protecting viewers and helping our traditional channels compete are from an analogue age.“The time has come to look at how we can unleash the potential of our public service broadcasters while also making sure viewers and listeners consuming content on new formats are served by a fair and well-functioning system.“So we’ll now be looking at how we can help make sure Channel 4 keeps its place at the heart of British broadcasting and level the playing field between broadcasters and video-on-demand services.”Channel 4’s chief executive Alex Mahon, however, said the broadcaster could have “different priorities” if it is privatised, and cautioned against doing anything “irreversible” which could “possibly damage some of those things that we do for the sector”.Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trialSign up More

Senior Cabinet minister Michael Gove has said he “can’t see” Boris Johnson granting a new referendum on Scottish independence before the next general election.Mr Gove – who is responsible for countering the push for independence – said the Prime Minister’s focus was completely focused on recovery from the pandemic “for the lifetime of this parliament”.His comments – which are likely to infuriate the SNP – appear to go further than other ministers who have said that this is the wrong time for another referendum.Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the next general election is not due until May 2024 – although Mr Johnson is committed to repealing the act which could allow him to go to the country before then.Asked in an interview with The Daily Telegraph whether there was “any circumstance” in which Mr Johnson would approve a referendum before a May 2024 election, Mr Gove said: “I don’t think so.”Asked whether his position was that “there will be no referendum before the 2024 election”, he replied: “I can’t see it.”After pro-independence parties won a majority in the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was “a matter of when, not if” there would be a second referendum.Mr Gove’s intervention may heighten the chances that the SNP could try to hold a unilateral referendum without the approval of Westminster, which would almost certainly result in a legal battle through the courts.Mr Gove however insisted that it was “foolish” to talk about a referendum at a time when the country was still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.”The Prime Minister is completely focused on making sure that, for the lifetime of this parliament, we increase economic opportunity, we provide people with the chance to make more of their lives, take control of their futures. And that’s quite rightly what the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom’s focus should be,” he said.”It seems to me to be at best reckless, at worst folly, to try to move the conversation on to constitutional division when people expect us to be working together in order to deal with these challenges.” More

The controversial decision to scrap a dedicated government department has had a negative effect on overseas aid spending, an official watchdog found.Bringing overseas aid within the Foreign Office slowed down moves to boost the impact of billions of pounds worth of investment and assure value for money for the taxpayer, a report published today warns.There was widespread outcry when Boris Johnson’s government announced plans to scrap the Department for International Development (Dfid) last June.Experts warned the move would hit the world’s poorest just as they were facing the challenge of fighting the coronavirus pandemic. But foreign secretary Dominic Raab pledged that the move would make aid spending more effective.He said he wanted to improve transparency and accountability and “relentlessly focus” on areas that would deliver the most value. In its report the Independent Commission for Aid (Icai) warned that the merger, as well as a subsequent announcement that the UK planned to slash its overseas aid budget in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, had held back progress.Icai’s chief commissioner, Dr Tamsyn Barton, said: “On the one hand, we have seen impressive improvements as a result of ICAI’s engagement with organisations delivering UK aid. “However, we have also observed that the turbulence created by Covid-19 and two associated processes of major cuts to programmes, together with the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with the Department for International Development, have set back progress which was under way last year.”She added: “A cause for concern in this context has been a reduction in open engagement in the follow-up process. While it may be that this is a result of overload at an exceptionally busy time, transparency is key to learning, and given the increased focus on ICAI’s role in enabling UK aid to learn and improve, it is more important than ever before.” The report was part of a follow up process by the Icai, checking on progress one year on from a series of recommendations it made for improvements. Dr Barton said: “Since we found inadequate progress… we will return next year in the hope of seeing a more encouraging picture”. Earlier this year the Icai cast doubt on the government’s claim to be slashing aid to China by 95 per cent, saying that only a fraction of the budget was being cut.An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are committed to full transparency, and throughout the pandemic have continued to publish our aid spending for each project online so anyone can see it.“The seismic impact of the pandemic meant we focused resources towards our Covid-19 response to help the most vulnerable.  We have provided documents and information to ICAI as part of their follow up review and continue to focus on maintaining spending transparency.” More

Stars from Radiohead, Blur and The Chemical Brothers have joined a new campaign urging Boris Johnson to fix the touring crisis caused by his Brexit deal.They are among more than 200 artists demanding help with the daunting barriers – costly visas and work permits, plus equipment red tape – that have “put one of UK’s finest exports at risk”.In January, the prime minister vowed to solve the crisis but, as The Independent revealed in April, no meaningful talks have taken place and no progress has been made.Anger was fuelled when Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, boasted about a deal to rescue visa-free music tours to tiny Liechtenstein – the agreement the UK rejected for the 27-nation EU.Now the #LetTheMusicMove campaign aims to pile on pressure to end the stalemate and secure financial support for a sector reeling from the twin blows of Covid and leaving the EU.David Rowntree, the drummer with Blur, said the Britpop band would have been denied the opportunity to tour the EU if the obstacles put up now had existed in the 1990s.“We just jumped on a ferry with no restrictions for us or our gear. If we were starting out today trying to do the same, we simply wouldn’t be able to afford it.“The UK government has to take this issue seriously and support touring artists. The future of British music is at stake.”Simone Butler, the bass player with Primal Scream, said: “To make it financially and logistically unrealistic to do shows and festivals will be halting the livelihoods and careers of generations of musicians.”And the rock band Skunk Anansie said: “After the extreme financial impact of the pandemic, touring can and will be the lifesaver for many bands, artists, and crews. We need action.”Other well-known artists backing the campaign include Bob Geldof, Annie Lennox, Mark Knopfler, Midge Ure, Annie Lennox, New Order, Anna Calvi, Peggy Seeger and Portishead’s Beth Gibbons and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason.Launched by the Music Managers Forum and the Featured Artists Coalition, it raises the alarm over:* The “logistical nightmare” of musicians and their teams requiring visas and work permits far in advance.* A three-stop limit on touring vehicles before they must return home from the EU – making the majority of tours that start in the UK impossible.* A hugely expensive goods passport – a carnet – including a bond for instruments and equipment.In January, Mr Johnson told MPs that David Frost was in charge of the crisis, but his Brexit negotiator has handed the baton to Mr Dowden, the culture secretary.“This is a DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] lead,” Frost told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.The peer’s “responsibility” was to “maximise the trade-offs” if a particular country might be willing to ease some paperwork, and if there was “anything else they want from us”, he said.Mr Dowden has claimed that 17 of the 27 EU countries have taken steps to reduce costs and red tape – but has refused to release any details. More

The effectiveness of the government’s culture recovery fund has been called into question by a new report highlighting how music festivals are currently teetering on the brink of collapse.The Public Accounts Committee is calling for better support for live music events, which are in peril for a second year due to the lack of government-backed insurance in the event of pandemic-related cancellations.Concerns were also raised about whether freelancers and supply chains that are essential to the culture sector have been able to access support from the fund.In March, The Independent reported how many freelance workers in the live music industry such as tour managers and sound technicians had been forced to take on jobs as shelf-stackers in supermarkets to make ends meet.Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the £1.57bn support package, dubbed the “Culture Recovery Fund”, in July 2020. Its primary goal was to rescue 75 per cent of arts, culture and heritage institutions in the UK during lockdown. While the committee acknowledged the department’s efforts to support cultural organisations, it pointed out that there is a “survival threat” faced by Britain’s summer music festivals. In the past few months, Glastonbury, Download, Kendal Calling and Boomtown have all been forced to cancel their plans to go ahead in 2021.The government has ignored repeated calls to implement an insurance scheme so festivals have a safety net should they be forced to cancel due to Covid.In May, culture secretary Dowden told a DCMS committee meeting that the idea of a government-backed insurance scheme would only be explored once further lockdown restrictions lift, which will not be until 19 July, after Stage 4 of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown was delayed.With the original 19 June date in mind, Conservative MP Heather Wheeler said this would likely be “all too late” for organisers due to the months of planning required for festivals to take place.Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trialSign up“This would have been a very cheap deal to have been done, because the government are confident that 21 June is D-Day… in which case, you didn’t need to spend any money on insurance,” she said. “But it’s too late for the planning for so many of these summer festivals. It’s just too late.”“We’ve probably lost another summer,” she added.Insurance companies are currently refusing to cover Covid-related cancellations, meaning festivals face massive financial losses and even risk bankruptcy if they are forced to cancel last-minute.Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said in the report: “The pandemic has exposed just how poorly departments across Government understand the sectors that they oversee. DCMS was clear that it ‘would not save every organisation’ but we are concerned about the impact of Covid-19 on those organisations vital to the culture sector – sound engineers, lighting and technical support.“The government must urgently consider support other than cash, such as insurance indemnity or parts of the sector risk as second summer of forced inactivity with all the devastating consequences to their survival.”Ms Hillier said that the sector, known for “making the show go on”, had been “hammered” by the pandemic and brought almost to a complete standstill for most of the past 15 months.“If the pandemic is allowed to steal a significant part of our creative and cultural sector it will have impoverished us indeed,” she said.The committee is recommending that the department should respond to its report within three months with details of how it plans to secure “longer-term value for money” with the cultural recovery fund, and what it intends to do to support overlooked members of the industry, such as festivals and freelance workers.The Independent has contacted the DCMS for comment. More

A new Pacific partnership hailed by Boris Johnson as a key to post-Brexit prosperity has been branded “a drop in the ocean” after official figures showed the government expects it to increase GDP by just 0.08 per cent – less than one-fortieth of the expected economic hit from leaving the European Union.And Labour warned that the benefit could slump to just 0.017 per cent (£400m) if Malaysia continues to hold out against ratification of the deal, according to figures from the Department for International Trade.The forecast £1.7bn annual increase in UK exports to countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Australia from membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) contrasts with the £2bn hit in sales of food and drink products alone to the EU in the first three months of this year.The figures emerged as a new poll found that Britain remains bitterly split over Brexit, five years on from the historic 52-48 vote to Leave on 23 June 2016.The Savanta ComRes survey suggested that the UK would now vote to Remain in the EU by a majority of 51-49 per cent, but would reject the opportunity to rejoin by the same wafer-thin margin.Less than a third of respondents (31 per cent) said that Brexit has been a success, with slightly more (34 per cent) branding it a failure. But there was a clear majority (51 per cent) who believed the experience has left the UK more divided, compared to just 13 per cent who said it was more united.Writing in The Independent, polling guru John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said that people who reached voting age since 2016 backed Remain by a margin of more than two to one, meaning that there was probably no majority for Leave when the UK finally exited the EU on 1 January.“Far from being ready to ‘move on’, voters are still deeply divided on the wisdom of the decision to leave the EU,” said Prof Curtice.And Brexit minister David Frost – the architect of the PM’s EU trade deal, who is currently embroiled in a bitter row with Brussels over Mr Johnson’s customs border in the Irish Sea – admitted that Leavers did not anticipate relations with the remaining 27 members would be as “relatively difficult” as they are now, telling MPs that it was reasonable to expect them to remain “a little bumpy for some time”.A report by the UK in a Changing Europe thinktank found declining trade with traditional partners across the EU, with Danish exports falling 17 per cent over the long term and the UK slipping from fifth to eighth position in national trade with Germany.Despite this, Mr Johnson claimed that the decision to leave the EU was now “part of our history” and said that the UK had benefited through being able to put in place a new immigration system, sign a free trade agreement with Australia, make plans to set up freeports and begin negotiations to join the CPTPP.“This government got Brexit done and we’ve already reclaimed our money, laws, borders and waters,” said the prime minister. “The decision to leave the EU may now part of our history, but our clear mission is to utilise the freedoms it brings to shape a better future for our people.”But Tory grandee and former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, now president of the European Movement, said: “Five years on, Brexit is far from ‘done’. It has only just begun and the forecast is ominous.“Storm clouds are gathering on the horizon, chief among them the threat to the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland. The fishing industry has now voiced its betrayal and the Australian trade deal will slowly erode the competitiveness of British farmers over the next 15 years. Meanwhile, the financial services industry quietly moves its activities to Europe in order to escape the continuing Brexit uncertainty.”Official estimates of the potential boost to the UK economy from CPTPP membership were branded “teeny”, as it emerged that Liz Truss’s Department for International Trade (DIT) estimates it will add just £1.8bn – or 0.08 per cent – to UK GDP in 15 years’ time.London School of Economics trade expert Dr Thomas Sampson told The Independent that this contrasted with the 4 per cent hit to GDP form Brexit forecast by the government’s independent Office for Budget Responsibility.“A small gain is better than nothing,” said Dr Sampson. “But any potential gains from joining the CPTPP are teeny compared to the costs of Brexit and there is no realistic possibility that CPTPP membership can offset the economic costs of Brexit.”Launching negotiations to join the CPTPP on Monday, Mr Johnson said membership would “open up unparalleled opportunities” for British businesses, while Ms Truss said that the region is “where Britain’s greatest opportunities lie”.But Labour’s Emily Thornberry said that the projections published by DIT raised questions over whether membership was worth the risk of undercutting UK farmers and exposing the government to legal action from corporations challenging social and environmental protection’s under the partnership’s Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism.“Labour welcomes any trade agreement that will create jobs in our country, help our exporters do more business abroad, and support our economic recovery, and if the CPTPP can offer those benefits, then as a country, we would be foolish not to think about joining,” said the shadow trade secretary.But she added: “We have to be sure that the benefits are worth the risks, and if those benefits could be as low as a 0.017 per cent increase in GDP, then that is alarmingly small compared to the price we are paying to join.”Liberal Democrat trade spokesperson Sarah Olney said the government should be focusing on the “mountains” of Brexit red tape depressing commerce with Europe ahead of the more limited benefits of the proposed partnership with far-flung CPTPP members.“It is shocking that the government is presenting these negotiations as a free trade triumph when the expected benefit to our economy is a drop in the ocean,” she said.Meanwhile, campaigners from Global Justice Now warned that polluting corporations would use the ISDS mechanism to challenge climate protections in the courts, in what director Nick Dearden branded “an act of environmental vandalism in the year we host COP26”.But a DIT spokesperson insisted that joining the CPTPP “will not affect our high environmental protections, animal welfare and food standards”.“ISDS provisions exist to protect British businesses and investments abroad,” the spokesperson said. “It is normal to have these provisions in trade and ISDS does not, and cannot, force the privatisation of public services.”The spokesperson added: “This part of the world is where Britain’s greatest opportunities lie. UK exports to CPTPP nations are set to increase by 65 per cent until 2030 and, in addition to this growth, comparative static analysis shows an additional increase in trade by £3.3bn as a result of UK accession.” More

Headteachers have said the “culture war” over the term white privilege is unlikely to serve the disadvantaged pupils at the heart of the debate. A new report has claimed the phrase undermines educational chances and may have contributed towards a “systemic neglect” of white working-class children.This stance has sparked backlash among politicians, with Labour MPs on the education committee distancing  themselves and claiming the report was being used to stoke “culture wars”.Headteachers have also questioned whether the attack on the phrase would benefit disadvantaged pupils.Jonathan Mountstevens, a deputy headteacher, told The Independent: “I think the prominent focus on terminology such as ‘white privilege’ is divisive and diverts attention from the rest of the report.” “I agree that schools should exercise caution over the use of controversial terms and should avoid stigmatising any students on account of their ethnicity, but it is stretching the bounds of credibility to suggest that this is a significant cause of the underachievement of white students from low income backgrounds.” In a new report, the Tory-dominated education select committee said white working-class pupils have been “let down” for decades by England’s education system and “divisive” language can make the situation worse.The report suggests schools should consider whether the promotion of “politically controversial terminology, including white privilege” is a breach of equalities duties. “I cannot think of a single example from my experience of ‘white privilege’ being taught to students and certainly not used to label them,” Mr Mountstevens from Hertfordshire told The Independent.“The disproportionate emphasis on this in the report invites unnecessary controversy and ruins the opportunity to build consensus around making a real difference for young people who have not been well served for an extended period and deserve much better.”Meanwhile Kieran McLaughlin, a headteacher in Durham, told The Independent: “I would say that the effect of multigenerational poverty and a wide range of societal factors beyond the control of schools have contributed to disadvantage.”He added: “Framing this within a narrative of culture wars is unlikely to solve any of the problems affecting the most disadvantage.”Matt Davies, a headteacher in North Yorkshire, told The Independent: “From the outside, the story seems very politicised and is perhaps forgetting that schools need proper funding to meet the needs of all children.” On Tuesday, the education select committee released their report called The forgotten: how White working-class pupils have been let down, and how to change it. It made recommendations to improve white working-class pupils’ outcomes, including finding “a better way to talk about racial disparities” to avoid pitting different groups against each other.The committee agreed with the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that discourse around the term “white privilege” can be “divisive”.But Labour MPs on the committee opposed the criticism of terms like “white privilege” in the report.Jo Grady from the University and College Union said the report will be “remembered for its divisiveness and for what looks and smells like a weaponising of educational inequalities to suit a different agenda”.Robert Halfon, the Tory chair of the education select committee, has denied he was trying to engage in culture wars by bringing up white privilege.”One of the reasons we found that white working-class boys and girls are struggling in education is because the families have disengaged from the education system and we believe this concept of white privilege perpetuates that idea,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.When asked whether the committee was trying to create a culture war, Mr Halfon said: “I have never engaged in culture wars, all I care about, as our committee does, is addressing the decades of neglect that have led to a situation where white working-class boys and girls from disadvantaged backgrounds are underperforming.”A Department for Education spoksperson said: “Schools play a crucial role in helping pupils understand the world around them and their place within it, and in teaching about respect for other people and for difference.”They added: “Schools have a duty to remain politically impartial and should not teach contested theory or opinions as fact. They must also be mindful of the need to offer a balanced presentation of opposing views.” More

Northern Ireland s Democratic Unionist Party on Tuesday named veteran lawmaker Jeffrey Donaldson as its new leader, weeks after he narrowly lost the election to lead the senior partner in Northern Ireland’s government. The party said that when nominations closed at noon, no one had come forward to challenge Donaldson, the sole candidate to replace Edwin Poots.“Following the completion of our party processes Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP will be the next leader of the Democratic Unionist Party,” said party chairman Maurice Morrow. The choice will be ratified by the DUP’s central executive committee on Saturday.Poots was chosen over Donaldson in a party contest in May, but resigned last week after colleagues revolted over a deal to appoint new leaders to the Protestant-Catholic power-sharing administration in Belfast.The turmoil in the DUP was fueled by Britain’s economic split from the European Union at the end of 2020, which has shaken the political balance in Northern Ireland, part of the U.K., where some people identify as British and some as Irish.Post-Brexit trade rules have imposed customs and border checks on some goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., angering Northern Ireland’s British unionists who say the new checks amount to a border in the Irish Sea and weaken ties with the rest of the U.K. Tensions over the new rules contributed to a week of street violence in Northern Irish cities in April that saw youths pelt police with bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs.The DUP is demanding the U.K. government scraps the new rules, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, which are designed to keep an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.Donaldson said Tuesday he would speak to U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson “at the earliest opportunity to emphasize that it is not realistic to expect stability when every unionist representative in the devolved institutions opposes the Northern Ireland Protocol.”“The government and those who claim to be protectors of peace and stability, must step up and deal with the Protocol in a manner which respects the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom,” he said.Poots broke with tradition by deciding not to serve as first minister of Northern Ireland, instead appointing Paul Givan to the post last week. Donaldson has said he will quit his seat in Britain s House of Commons and return to the Belfast Assembly to take up the post of first minister.The DUP, which is rooted in the fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church, opposed Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace accord. It later became reconciled to it and shares power with the Irish Republican Army-linked Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein More