Nadine Dorries: Last News

Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don has taken to Twitter to address the future of his BBC shows following the news that the BBC licence fee is set to be frozen at £159 for the next two years.The presenter of Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens, 66, explained that his shows are now "less likely" to be made in the face of the freeze after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced the changes yesterday.In view of his 246,800 followers, the star explained what the licence fee freeze meant for the future of his programmes.Monty wrote: "Although there is a debate to be had over the extent and duration of the licence fee, the government freeze will save payers the grand sum of 15 pence per week over the coming year."However it will mean that programmes like Adriatic Gardens will be much less likely to be made," he warned his fans.Following the news, many of the horticulturalist's followers took to the comments to weigh in on the news.Jo Mirzoeff told the gardening star: "Adriatic Gardens is an absolute joy and worth the licence fee all on its own."While Jo and Sky Woodhouse commented: "I think that will be a tragedy and it’s the thin end of the wedge, it’s not just the wonderful tv, like your Adriatic series, but also the radio, think of Radio 4 for example."Joyce Jordan chipped in: "I would rather pay the licence fee than risk losing quality programmes like Adriatic Gardens."And many other shows I love on the BBC especially GW." (sic)Jo Barlow added: "Which is a tragedy as Adriatic Gardens is just a delight x."Joseph Wicks replied saying: "That would be a great shame. Loving Adriatic gardens and all the BBC does.

BBC director general Tim Davie has said that the freezing of TV licence fees will cost the broadcaster £285million.Davie said the new settlement, set to stop the cost of licence fees increasing for the next two years, “will affect our frontline output” and prompt cuts across services and content.Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said of the decision yesterday (January 17): “The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users.”“Inevitably, if you don’t have £285million, you will get less services and less programmes,” Davie subsequently told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday (January 18).“Now, I still think the BBC can offer extraordinary value for £13 a month.”Regarding potential cuts to accommodate for a stagnating licence fee until 2024, Davie continued: “We go first to those cuts where we don’t affect our output…We are not at the place where you can never make cuts, but this will affect our frontline output. There’s no doubt about that.”He went on to acknowledge the BBC “[needs] to reshape ourselves for a digital age”.“The media market is moving extremely rapidly,” he added.

Dan Walker has defended the BBC after it was hinted that the license fee would be scrapped. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted about plans to overhaul the funding model for the BBC, revealing that the next announcement about the fee would "be the last".The annual payment usually changes on April 1 of each year, however, reports suggest that it will be frozen at the rate of £159 for the next two years.

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.

BBC Director General Tim Davie has said yesterday’s licence fee settlement will leave the public broadcaster with a shortfall of £285M ($390M) in 2027/2028 and needing to save around $1.5BN (£2.1BN) across the next five years.

Boris Johnson’s sudden move to freeze the BBC licence fee, and possibly abolish it altogether, have been branded an act of “cultural vandalism” to distract from the partygate scandal engulfing his government.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has confirmed the Conservatives ' snap plan to abolish the BBC licence fee, in what was branded as a "pathetic" attack on journalism.

The BBC licence fee will be frozen for the next two years by the UK government before returning to an inflationary rise, which will likely cripple the corporation’s programming budgets.

The next announcement about the BBC TV licence fee "will be the last", the Culture Secretary has said, amid reports it will be frozen for the next two years.

High-profile figures were rallying behind the beleaguered BBC yesterday after reports emerged that the UK government plans to freeze the licence fee for two years and scrap it entirely in 2027.

Gary Lineker, 61, took to Twitter earlier today to fume at a politician’s plan to play the national anthem daily on the BBC.The star reacted to this in view of his 8.2 million followers, sparking a divide from his fans.This comes after Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell asked how the BBC can be requested to do this at the end of each day.In response, Nadine Dorries has called the request a “fantastic question,” according to journalist Adam Bienkov.Responding to his tweet on his Twitter feed, Gary called the move “North Korean”.He wrote: “Yeah, let’s be less British and more North Korean.”The football commentator ended his tweet with a fist pump emoji.MP Andrew represents Romford and suggested all UK broadcasters should play God Save The Queen.Speaking in the Commons earlier today, he said: “I know that the minister will agree that the singing of the national anthem is something that provides great sense of unity and pride in our nation.“And so in this year of the Queen’s platinum jubilee will the minister take steps to encourage public broadcasters to play the national anthem and ensure that the BBC restore it at the end of the day’s programming before it switches to News 24?”Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries then replied: “Fantastic question”.Nigel Huddleston is also reported to have responded: “We fully support the singing of the national anthem, Her Majesty the Queen, and other expressions of patriotism, including the flying of the Union Jack.“The more that we hear the national anthem sung frankly the better.“Of course organisations like schools are free to promote it, and the more we can do in this area, the better it will be.”Following Gary’s tweet on the subject, many of his

Academy Award-winning The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper has been blocked by the UK government from re-appointment to the Channel 4 board, along with Althea Efunshile, the board’s only person from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background.

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.”

K.J. Yossman U.K.

As a writer, as someone who works within “culture” (OK, many of you would quite rightly debate that), I was as dismayed as anyone back in September when Nadine Dorries was appointed Culture Secretary.

Brexit, in a deal hailed as “a big victory”.Last month, a number of figures from the music industry spoke to NME about how new visa rules, as well as prohibitive costs and admin rules, meant that many UK artists could no longer afford to tour in Spain – cutting off one of the biggest markets for UK talent.In a tweet posted last night, new Department Of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) head, Nadine Dorries, said: “Really great news. We’ve been working closely with the Spanish government to make touring easier – and they’ve just confirmed that musicians no longer need visas to go on short-term tours 21 Member States now offer visa & permit-free routes for touring performers.

Manori Ravindran International EditorOver a month after her shock Culture Secretary appointment amid a dramatic cabinet reshuffle, Nadine Dorries (pictured, right) has at last met with the CEO of the U.K.’s “It’s a Sin” broadcaster Channel 4, which Boris Johnson’s government has threatened to put on the sales block.Variety can reveal that Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon (pictured, left) met this week with Dorries in what was the pair’s first meeting since the latter MP took over from Oliver Dowden as Culture Secretary.

Nick Robinson’s recent confrontational interview with Boris Johnson, during which he barked at the Prime Minister to ‘stop talking’ like a brittle headmaster losing it with an unruly child. Even Robinson seemed to realise he had wildly overstepped from robust to plain rude.

Get the latest entertainment news sent straight to your inbox with our weekly Showbiz newsletter

BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker has taken to Twitter to hit back at accusations of a "nepotism" issue within the BBC's staff after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries claimed that the cooperation is staffed by people "whose mum and dad worked there".The member of parliament made the remarks yesterday during the Tory Conference in Manchester, leading the Strictly Come Dancing star to defend the broadcaster.In view of his 725,300 followers, Dan set the record straight on how he landed his BBC presenting roles, before jokingly teasing his mum over her Strictly Come Dancing gaffe.Dan wrote: "My mum and dad were both teachers."No one in my family has ever worked in the media before."My mum is coming to Strictly at the weekend and she thinks it’s

Nadine Dorries was told “it doesn’t matter whether you’re from Harrow School or Hartlepool” after claiming that working class youngsters are being frozen out of leading TV roles by “posh” actors. Contrasting her own upbringing in a deprived area of Liverpool, Ms Dorries said it was now almost impossible for anyone without a privileged background to break into entertainment.