I missed this yesterday – but it seems that the Tory party would like to get rid of the BBC website along with various other aspects of it’s digital endeavours because, essentially, they are not ideologically correct.

The party’s culture spokesman, John Whittingdale, told Guardian Unlimited Politics he was “not persuaded” of the case for a public service website and that he was “not convinced the BBC needs to do all the things it is doing at the present”, including providing “more and more channels”.

“As a free-market Conservative, I will only support a nationalised industry if I’m persuaded that that is the only way to do it and if it were not nationalised it would not happen.”

(Source: The Guardian)

I know the BBC has it’s detractors, and I have had problems with it from time to time as well, but as a sometime license-fee payer and UK citizen, I feel quite strongly that the BBC should carry on expanding it’s services, particularly online. I can’t comment on the digital channels, but the website is generally an excellent resource – a point conceded by Whittingdale.

He goes on to say that this is because it has had “a lot of money thrown at it”. So? It’s worth it, Mr. Whittingdale. The market introduces it’s own biases into the media, and despite the odd problem the BBC might have, or be seen to have, it is at least subject to a different set of constraints and can provide us with a view from a different angle.

On a related note, anyone seen any Conservative response to Dyke’s speech on the archives yet? I had a brief look throught the Conservative Party website, but couldn’t see anything. Or any of the parties, for that matter.