THE Tories have threatened to reconsider Channel 4’s broadcasting remit if they win the General Election after an ice sculpture was used in place of Boris Johnson during the channel’s climate change debate.
Melting sculptures stood in place of the Prime Minister and Nigel Farage after they declined to face other party leaders in last night’s debate.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove had turned up before the debate hoping to take Johnson’s place, but was rebuffed.
According to reports, if the Tories return to Downing Street after December 12, they will look at whether the channel’s remit should be “better focused so it is serving the public in the best way possible”.
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Channel 4 is state-owned and its ability to operate is therefore subject to legislation that can be changed by Parliament. The broadcasters licence – which runs until 2024 – is due for renewal in the five-year term of the next government.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, the LibDem’s Jo Swinson, Green co-leader Sian Berry and Plaid Cymru’s Adam Price all took part in the debate.
The Conservative Party has written to the chairman of the Ofcom Election Committee to make a formal complaint about Channel 4. In the letter by spokesman Lee Cain, it is claimed that the broadcaster contravened rules with “a provocative partisan stunt” that was indicative of a “wider pattern of bias”.
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