BBC World Service Funding Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Chris Vince
Main Page: Chris Vince (Labour (Co-op) - Harlow)Department Debates - View all Chris Vince's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(1 day, 13 hours ago)
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Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) for securing today’s vital debate. I will come on to the concerns and risks regarding the future of the BBC World Service, but I wanted to start by saying something obvious that is not said as often as it should be in this place: the BBC World Service is not only an institution; as the hon. Member for Melksham and Devizes (Brian Mathew) said, for those who travel abroad, it is a constant friend. It reaches 400 million people in 43 languages every single week.
As many hon. Members have said, the biggest concern about any potential loss or downgrade of the BBC World Service is the vacuum that would leave behind. The issues in Lebanon, where the frequency was replaced by a Russian network, have also been mentioned by several hon. Members. That should be hugely concerning to us all. Lord Dubs said that
“the BBC World Service is…worth quite a few submarines in terms of the effect on the world and on our position within it”.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 2 June 2025; Vol. 846, c. 465.]
We need a sustainable settlement for the World Service. I recognise my hon. Friends’ points about the increase in funding by this Government, but the service needs a multi-year settlement that would ensure that there was no fuel added to potential claims that this was part of its managed decline.
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket for raising the issue with the Prime Minister today, and I thank the Prime Minister for his recognition of its importance. It was a shame to hear a few jeers from Members who did not recognise the importance of its soft power, although I am relieved that we have strong cross-party support on the issue this afternoon. We are at our best as a Parliament when we speak as one voice.
I ask the Minister to ensure that there are no cuts to the World Service and to champion the importance of multi-year funding. Of course, as the right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) said, it would be wonderful to see it fully funded by the Government. I was interested in his comments about funding coming from the defence budget—maybe I will quote him on that at a future meeting.
The BBC World Service is more than just a luxury; it is a strategic asset for this country, and more and more vital as we face a more and more uncertain future in the world.