John Whittingdale becomes UK culture secretary
11 May 2015
From the section Entertainment & Arts
John Whittingdale is to take over from Sajid Javid as UK culture secretary, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Mr Whittingdale has been chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport select committee for a decade.
One of his first duties will be to oversee negotiations for the BBC’s charter renewal.
Last October, he said the TV licence “was unsustainable over 20 to 50 years”, it was “worse than a poll tax” and must be “tweaked immediately”.
He will also face the prospect of cuts to his department, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, as the new government seeks to eliminate the national budget deficit.
As chair of the select committee, Mr Whittingdale has overseen recent inquiries into the promotion of tourism in the UK, the future of the BBC, society lotteries and opportunities for women in sport.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
Source:: BBC Entertainment
