Rupert Murdoch told PM he MUST get rid of the BBC while ‘bouncing Wilfred on his knee’ during visit to his country house, says Boris Johnson’s sister
- Rachel Johnson claimed Rupert Murdoch asked for scrapping of the BBC
- Media mogul was on visit to PM’s country house when he asked
- Miss Johnson said long-term future of the BBC would be an ‘increasing struggle’
Boris Johnson’s sister has claimed that Rupert Murdoch told him to ‘get rid of the BBC’ during a visit to the Prime Minister’s country house.
Rachel Johnson claimed the media mogul ‘dandled’ Mr Johnson’s son Wilfred on his knee at Chequers as he made the case for scrapping the licence fee-funded broadcaster.
Miss Johnson, 56, a presenter for the LBC radio station, told an industry event this week the long-term future of the BBC was going to be an ‘increasing struggle’ amid competition from streaming and subscription services.
She said part of the pressure was coming from the likes of Mr Murdoch, 90, who was making the case that the corporation was a threat to competition.
Boris Johnson’s sister has claimed that Rupert Murdoch (pictured) told him to ‘get rid of the BBC’ during a visit to the Prime Minister’s country house
Miss Johnson said: ‘In my judgment the BBC will be here in ten years.
‘But it is going to be an increasing struggle when the whole of the television story is about streaming and subscription, to have the BBC which costs £4billion to run, which gets £3billion in from the licence fee, to have that entity as a competitor.
‘Especially when you have got people like Rupert Murdoch going to Chequers and saying to my brother, as he dandles Wilf on his knee, ‘Boris you’ve got to get rid of the BBC, it’s eating my lunch, they got a website, they’re a publisher, it’s not competitive’. You can see that there are pressures from all sides.’
Downing Street would not be drawn on details. A spokesman said only that ministers ‘declare all meetings’ with senior media bosses in their ‘quarterly transparency return’. It was reported earlier this year that Mr Murdoch has met Mr Johnson, whose youngest son was born in April 2020, three times since he became PM. According to transparency data released by the Government, the pair met on September 18 last year for a ‘general discussion’.
Rachel Johnson (pictured), 56, a presenter for the LBC radio station, told an industry event this week the long-term future of the BBC was going to be an ‘increasing struggle’ amid competition from streaming and subscription services
It was also previously reported they had a ‘social meeting’ in September 2019, the day it was revealed Mr Johnson would seek to hold a general election if his Brexit plans were blocked. The location of the meetings was not disclosed.
Mr Murdoch’s UK empire includes The Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times as well as the Wireless Group, which operates radio stations including Virgin Radio and Talkradio, and the publisher HarperCollins.
News UK is launching a TV channel called talkTV next year which has signed Piers Morgan as its star presenter.
Miss Johnson told Radiocentre’s Tuning In event the Government should create a better environment for British broadcasters to make quality content.The BBC needs ‘an environment where the Government actually encourages British producers to tell British stories to British audiences that we can then sell globally’, she said.
A spokesman for News UK said last night: ‘The supposed quote is preposterous. It is well known that our focus has been on the threat of the big digital platforms to publishers large and small.’
News UK is launching a TV channel called talkTV next year which has signed Piers Morgan as its star presenter
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