POLL: Should the BBC lose funding over ‘anti-British’ royal snub? | UK | News
The BBC has been accused of being “anti-British” over reported plans to cut its state events team to a single staff member – but what do you think? The broadcaster could significantly slash the workforce of BBC Studios Events Productions, which currently employs six people to oversee coverage of significant events, including VE Day and D-Day anniversaries.
Sources accused the corporation of favouring commercial events such as Glastonbury Festival over traditional royal occasions like Trooping the Colour after the news broke. Former Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis KC slammed it as “another disgraceful anti-British decision from the BBC“. So what do you think? Vote in our poll and join the debate in the comments section.
Commenting on the news, Sir Michael told the Daily Mail:“Somehow they can find unlimited resources to send an absurd retinue of 550 staff to Glastonbury Festival.
“But they want to cut the excellent team who have won awards for their coverage of important ceremonal and key state events in the life of this nation.”
The redundancies were reportedly announced last week, just one day after the Studios Events Productions team won a Royal Television Society Award for its live broadcast of Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, 2025.
Another source described the move as “desperately short-sighted” and called for it to be paused until outgoing director-general Tim Davie is replaced by Matt Brittin in May.
“It is literally the crown jewel of live British broadcasting,” they added. “They would never do this for premier football events, so what is it about national life that they don’t value?
A spokesperson for the BBC said: “As a prudent commercial business with a mandate to maximise returns to the BBC, we regularly look at how we’re set up and where we can work more efficiently.
“We’re proposing some changes that will help us stay strong creatively and continue to deliver a range of high-quality programmes – whilst managing our costs in a challenging and fast‑moving market.”
