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Electronic Communications

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Having visited a couple of times, I know that there is a developing, but quite fragile, creative economy in that part of Scotland. There is a tendency to claim that this is all about bloated BBC pay and executives, but a point that is often missed is that much of the money goes to independent producers and small start-up creative businesses in Scotland, as my hon. Friend and I saw when we visited. That is a crucial source of funding that would be severely missed if it were to be reined in. A further ask has emerged since the licence fee settlement was reached, and it is perhaps the most important of all. The media industry has changed profoundly during that time and continues to change at great speed. As a result, and as I have said before, it is vital that the BBC step forward to play a bigger role as a partner and an enabler of other public service content, and I welcome the moves it has made in this direction. This is firmly in the public interest, as it helps to sustain programmes that the public value. According to the hon. Member for South-West Surrey's logic, if commercial TV is shrinking, the BBC must shrink too. My argument is that the BBC should put a helping hand under other parts of the system that are struggling, so as to maintain the content that the public enjoy, value and depend on. That is the fundamental misunderstanding in his remarks today.