UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has insisted the negative reaction to the planned privatisation of Channel 4 has been "overblown, lazy and snobbish". 

In her column for the Daily Mail, she encouraged people to ignore the "lazy, overwrought and ill-informed rhetoric from the Leftie luvvie lynch mob" as she argued her case for selling-off the broadcaster.

Meanwhile, she accused some of those opposing of "descending into full-on abusive hysteria" and said the "overblown" reaction came from "the same people who snobbishly decried my appointment". 

And while insisting she liked the channel, she said it "did always not help itself with its news anchor shouting 'f*** the Tories', or broadcasting an alternative Queen's speech by Iranian dictator Ahmadinejad or a deep fake of Her Majesty". 

The UK Government – which owns the broadcaster – intends to take it out of public ownership claiming this is holding it back from competing with streaming services like Netflix.

Dorries has said selling it to a private owner would give it "the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the future".

But she faced an onslaught from the public, cultural icons, former Channel 4 employees, production companies and politicians who argued the move was non-sensical.

Kirstie Allsop, who presents Location, Location, Location, said it was "a load of absolute twaddle", while former editor-at-large Dorothy Byrne said Channel 4 was not there to compete with Netflix or Amazon. 

Meanwhile, Alan Clements, managing director of Two Rivers Media in Glasgow, branded it "cultural vandalism" and insisted production companies could fold if Channel 4 was sold.

But Dorries has sought to silence her critics, arguing Margaret Thatcher said the channel should be privatised back in 1988 after establishing it six years earlier. 

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She said in her column: "It would be irresponsible for any government to sit back and allow the status quo to continue. 

"So last week I made the decision that it is time to unleash the broadcaster's full potential and open Channel 4 up to private ownership and investment while protecting its crucial public service broadcasting remit.

"Sadly, the reaction was as predictable as it was inflammatory.

"Few opponents want to engage with the issue of guaranteeing Channel 4's long-term future. They're happier sneering, accusing me of not being 'smart enough' to understand Channel 4 or descending into full-on abusive hysteria. 

"Let's dump the lazy, overwrought and ill-informed rhetoric from the Leftie luvvie lynch mob and take a cool look at the facts.

"Our independent production companies are flourishing, with only 7% of the industry's revenue coming from Channel 4. 

"Channel 4 is a distinct cultural asset which has created some of the best programmes we have ever been lucky enough to watch. But its salad days are in the past.

"It is fundamentally Conservative to want Channel 4 to grow so it can invest in better technology, content, and people and have an even bigger impact on our creative economy than it already has.

"That's what I want to get on with – and the overblown reaction from the same people who snobbishly decried my appointment the moment I walked through my department's doors won't stop me."

Many people, including Clements, have speculated the decision may be ideological given the channel and its staff have been openly critical of the Tories over the years. 

In 2019 during a leadership debate on climate change, the broadcaster opted to replace an absent Boris Johnson with a melting ice sculpture.

A couple of years earlier, journalist Jon Snow was accused of shouting "f*** the Tories" while dancing with students at Glastonbury. 

And at the MacTaggart Lecture in 2019 during Edinburgh's TV festival, Byrne called Johnson "a known liar".