The BBC is facing a potential confrontation with Parliament and its own governors after it emerged that BBC2 controller Jane Root wants to drastically reduce or end gavel-to-gavel coverage of the party conference season. The move comes just months after the BBC's governors forced Radio 4 to reinstate Yesterday in Parliament on FM.
According to senior sources, Root has lobbied to axe party political conference coverage altogether after the next election, leaving only leaders' and chancellors' speeches live. She argued that political enthusiasts could watch full proceedings on the digital channel BBC Parliament, but politicians countered that this was meaningless until digital channels are more widely available.
The axing of the conference round-up programme Conference Talk, hosted by Andrew Neil, has already been confirmed for this year due to the Sydney Olympics. However, insiders doubt it will return. Neil is concerned that if the BBC will not run highlights, it is unlikely to want to show full speeches and debates.
The proposed cuts have drawn sharp criticism from politicians. Labour MP Claire Ward called the idea 'outrageous', while a Labour spokesman said excuses would be seen as the BBC 'dumbing down'. A Liberal Democrat spokesman added: 'This is symptomatic of the BBC thinking politics is boring.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'Conference Talk was one part of extensive coverage from the BBC which nobody else does. There may well be changes, but there is no particular scaling back this year.' However, the corporation faces renewed opposition from the Culture, Media and Sport select committee and the BBC governors.
