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Common looks set to win

Rishi Sunak expected to shelve plans to privatise Channel 4

Privatisation expected to be among the many low-priority policies that will be scrapped by the prime minister

The decision to drop the sale of Channel 4 from the media bill has been signalled by Downing Street to industry and Whitehall. It would be welcomed by the publicly owned broadcaster, which has faced half a dozen privatisation proposals since it was launched in 1982.

Sunak had privately been sceptical of the case for prioritising the Channel 4 privatisation while he was chancellor, but threw his support behind the plan during his unsuccessful bid to become Conservative party leader over the summer. His view at the time was that although he believed Channel 4 was a crucial part of British broadcasting, it needed private funding to compete with well-resourced streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon.

“It’s likely that the government will want to quietly drop privatisation”, one senior Tory said. “It’s unpopular with some parts of the party, has a huge impact on our creative sector and the media bill can be pushed through without including it”.

Culture secretary Michelle Donelan, who was appointed under former prime minister Liz Truss, said in September she was “re-examining” the business case for selling the broadcaster with a final decision on the matter expected in the coming weeks.

The sale of Channel 4 has faced fierce opposition from some in the parliamentary Tory party and Sunak’s cabinet. Speaking earlier this year, before becoming chancellor, Jeremy Hunt said it would be a “shame” to lose the competition between Channel 4 and the BBC in public service broadcasting. Andrew Mitchell, a minister in the Foreign Office, said this month that he was “very much against” the sale.

https://www.ft.com/content/2898cce0-...a-46996229061a