David Dimbleby has voiced his frustration over budget cuts at the BBC, saying he is 'appalled' as the cuts could result in up to 2,000 staff members being made redundant. The BBC is targeting £500 million in savings over two years, with redundancies set to be rolled out over the coming three years.
Dimbleby's reaction
Speaking to Radio Times, the 87-year-old said: 'Why on earth have they done that? The best analysis of politics, both national and international... I'm appalled. Very bad, bad, bad, bad, bad call.'
David, who formerly presented Question Time, also condemned cuts made to BBC Studios Events. The team tasked with covering national occasions such as Remembrance Day and state funerals was informed that all except one of them will be scrapped to reduce costs.
BBC Events closure
'And my God, BBC Events being closed!' David said. 'It takes months of connections to make friends with the people at the Palace, with Westminster Abbey, with the police, to know what's going on with Downing Street, so that when the day comes, everybody helps you.'
He added: 'It's a BBC gold standard to cover big national events. It's at the heart of the BBC, and I cannot understand what they're up to. But I have no power in the BBC.'
BBC statement
In a statement, the BBC said: 'The BBC has to make at least £500m of savings and BBC News, like all of the BBC, needs to play its part. We have tried to mitigate the impact on audiences as much as possible, so The World Tonight will be replaced by BBC World Service's Newshour. Another high-quality news analysis programme made by the same production team, preceded by a domestic news bulletin.'
Cuts to channels could also include merging BBC Four with BBC Two, and the closure of BBC Three. Another 700 job losses in the corporate division will be set out in the next few months, meaning the total cost savings are expected to be £160m by the end of this financial year.
It had previously been revealed that BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight would be scrapped after more than 50 years on air, becoming one of the earliest casualties of the broadcaster's cost-cutting measures. David joined the BBC as a news reporter in Bristol in the 1960s. He fronted Question Time from 1994 to 2018.
