Boris Johnson’s privatisation of Channel 4 looks set for the chop after the new culture secretary cautioned against it in a leaked letter.
Michelle Donelan has written to prime minister Rishi Sunak to recommend that the planned privatisation does not go ahead.
The cabinet minister said there are “better ways to ensure Channel 4’s sustainability” than selling it off.
The leaked letter was first revealed by Global journalist Lewis Goodall who pointed out that it was a “big retreat” from a signature piece of Johnson era policy.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries sparked a furious backlash when she unveiled the sell-off plans in April 2022.
Reports that her plans were being axed riled Dorries who accused Sunak of washing Johnson’s legacy “down the drain”.
She tweeted: “Three years of a progressive Tory government being washed down the drain.
“Levelling up, dumped. Social care reform, dumped. Keeping young and vulnerable people safe online, watered down.
“A bonfire of EU legislation, not happening. Sale of C4 giving back £2billion reversed. Replaced with what?”
HuffPost UK recently revealed that ministers had spent £2 million on the plans — even though they now look set to be abandoned.
In her letter, Donelan said she had “concluded that pursuing a sale at this point is not the right decision and there are better ways to secure C4C’s [Channel 4 Corporation] sustainability and that of the independent production sector”.
She added that its role in supporting the independent production sector “would be very disrupted by a sale at a time when growth and economic stability are our priorities”.
Channel 4 was created in 1982 by the Conservative government of Baroness Thatcher and is entirely funded by advertising, out of public ownership.
Donelan, who was appointed by Liz Truss and remained in the role after Sunak took over, had previously cast doubt on plans to privatise the broadcaster.
When the government announced plans last year to take the channel out of public ownership, it said it was so the broadcaster can better survive in a media landscape dominated by the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
Tory MP Simon Hoare welcomed the news, tweeting: “A welcome and excellent decision/recommendation by Michelle Donelan: if it ain’t broke; don’t fix it!”
Labour’s shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell said: “The Conservatives’ vendetta against Channel 4 was always wrong for Britain, growth in our creative economy, and a complete waste of everyone’s time.”
A spokesperson for the department of culture media and sport said: “We do not comment on speculation.
“The DCMS secretary of state has been clear that we are looking again at the business case for the sale of Channel 4.
“We will announce more on our plans in due course.”