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BBC

It will take me about one minute to express my thoughts. I am glad that we are having this debate, although I am curious where the Secretary of State is today, because we have still not had a response from the Government on that front. We are all products of the BBC, which I grew up with. One of my heroes was Brian Cant on ““Playschool””, and I am sure that everyone was moved when John Noakes’s dog died on ““Blue Peter””. I also remember when ““Nationwide”” flummoxed us all by giving us the impression that spaghetti grows on trees. We take an interest in the BBC not only because we are taxpayers, but because it has been part of our lives throughout the past few decades. Why has the National Audit Office been ruled out of having an accounting profile in looking after the BBC? The Minister was asked twice to give an example of when the editorial content of the BBC would be challenged if the NAO were to play a role. Although the debate has been thorough, we need another, because we have identified more questions than answers. I hope that the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr. Lammy) will reflect on some of those questions when he winds up. We still do not know how the trust will be made up, how accountability will be established, why the NAO will not have a role or who will pay the spectrum charge. Time is running out, but I hope that we will have more opportunities to debate that important aspect of British society.