John Whittingdale: Last News

All the key building developments in each area will regularly be displayed in the local press thanks to the new Public Notice Portal launch.

A new online petition is proposing that the TV licence fee is abolished for every household across the country and a subscription service for the BBC is offered instead. The TV licence is set to rise in line with the rate of inflation from April 2024, following a two-year freeze at £159.

Ministers have faced questions about whether new data powers could be used to look at the bank accounts of older people in receipt of the State Pension. Conservative former minister David Davis claimed that measures aimed at tackling fraud in the benefit system within the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill would allow the state to “put people under surveillance without prior suspicion”.

Hundreds of homes across Greater Manchester will have their eco-heaters upgraded with 5G technology to help monitor energy usage - and hopefully bring bills down. The government is putting £3m towards the innovative scheme.

An SNP MP has asked Rishi Sunak if it is "unfair" that Scotland football matches are not free-to-air when England and Wales ones are.

Boris Johnson’s most die-hard allies flocked to a wedding party with him at a billionaire donor’s estate last night - weeks before he is forced from office. The outgoing PM invited his last remaining loyalists to the grounds of 18th-century Daylesford House - owned by Tory mega-donor Lord Bamford.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and wife Carrie celebrated their wedding at the grand Cotswolds estate of a major Tory donor with guests including staunch loyalists Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nadine Dorries.

sentence.Former teacher Charles Napier, 74, has spent just six and a half years behind bars after being convicted in 2014 of carrying out hundreds of sex assaults against 23 boys, between 1967 and 1983.He was arrested in 2013 as part of Operation Cayacos, a strand of Scotland Yard's wider investigation into historical child abuse called Operation Fairbank.Napier, half-brother to Tory MP John Whittingdale, plied his victims with alcohol and gave them sweets and cigarettes, and would taunt those who did not comply with his deranged requests.The judge in the Southwark Crown Court trial said at the time there was “no doubt” that he had become a teacher because of the proximity it offered him to young boys, so of whom had been “dramatically damaged” by his heinous crimes.During interviews with the police Napier told officers he had been "completely out of control" and was "desperately sorry" for his actions.He is a former treasurer of the infamous Paedophile Information Exchange, which campaigned to low the age of consent and linked like-minded abusers in the 1970s and 80s, before it was disbanded.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.When asked if he would like to apologise to all his victims, Napier told The Sun: “I’ve said sorry to my victims.“I didn’t say anything in court.

The UK government is pushing ahead with plans to privatize Channel 4.

EXCLUSIVE: As the BBC dominates the headlines and the future of the licence fee is placed in doubt, another major British public broadcaster Channel 4 looks set to have to wait longer to discover the fate of its own future-defining government decision on privatization.

Doctor Who star was taken aback when in autumn, the then Minister of State for Media and Data, John Whittingdale, announced that public service broadcasters would have a legal requirement to make “distinctly British” programmes.In a recent interview, David raged at the thought the government could be wanting "sympathy", and expect the arts to do it for them."Is there some inherent criticism within this plea for more Britishness?" he snapped."Did Britishness mean ‘made in Britain’ or programmes that have a certain political viewpoint?”"Is it just a government pleading for the artist to be more sympathetic towards it?"And the questions kept on coming as he demanded to know: "Why would the government feel they need more sympathy directed

UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries has signalled it could be some time until she has an answer on the privatization of Channel 4, as she says she is “only interested in how Channel 4 will survive in the future.”

Naman Ramachandran As Mipcom rolled on at Cannes, U.K. public service broadcaster BBC held a preview of its upcoming scripted titles for journalists at an event on Monday presided over by Piers Wenger, director of BBC Drama.A hot button topic of discussion in recent weeks has been the matter of “distinctively British content.” Hours before he was removed from office, John Whittingdale, then Minister for Media and Data, told the Royal Television Society convention at Cambridge that the government intended to introduce a White Paper that includes a requirement for such content.“If it’s set in Britain and made in Britain by our public service broadcasters, then it should be distinctively British,” Whittingdale had said.

Naman Ramachandran “Succession” writer Lucy Prebble and “His Dark Materials” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” writer Jack Thorne did not mince their words while reacting to the proposed rules for ‘Britishness’ in content that were suggested in September. The rules, which were proposed by John Whittingdale, then Minister for Media and Data, just before he was sacked, call for “content that contributes to British culture and allows U.K.

Succession writer Lucy Prebble and His Dark Materials’ Jack Thorne have slammed the UK government’s plan to force Public Service Broadcasters to produce ‘distinctive British content’, with Prebble calling it “an empty gesture to a fictional audience”.

Irish Derry Girls fans were left amused and rather unimpressed on Thursday when the hit comedy show, which follows the lives of Catholic schoolgirls navigating life in Northern Ireland in the 90s, was described as being ‘distinctively British.’

Naman Ramachandran On a tumultuous day at the Royal Television Society convention at Cambridge, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon and the U.K. government were very much in disagreement over the proposed privatization of the channel.Moments before Mahon took the stage, Oliver Dowden who was due to speak immediately after, was replaced as Culture Secretary by Nadine Dorries, in what was an equally tumultuous day at No.

With the news today that Oliver Dowden has been replaced as UK Culture Secretary by Nadine Dorries, a version of the RTS speech published early this morning was in fact delivered by John Whittingdale, Minister Of State For Media And Data.

The UK Government’s Minister for Media and Data, John Whittingdale, waged battle with UK TV professionals over the future of Channel 4 at this year’s Closing Debate at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Campaigners' fight to restore over-75s' free TV licences has been boosted by revelations Whitehall officials and the BBC are in talks about how to “further support older people”.

The UK government has continued to apply pressure to Netflix to carry a disclaimer on The Crown making clear the series is dramatized — even though the U.S. streaming giant has already knocked back the request.