Helen joined 50 Members of Parliament to express her concern about the cuts to BBC local radio that BBC Management are currently proposing, and asked the BBC trust to think again.

MPs, especially from the Northern and Western regions pointed out that their stations were suffering particularly large cuts. Helen noted that in the North East, BBC Tees is having to cut around 20% from its budget, which she fears will harm local services.

She said “For 2 million people, this is their only contact with the BBC, and their listeners tend to be older and on lower incomes, especially in the North East. Their interests of people in our region should not be overlooked.”

Helen, in her capacity as Labour’s spokesperson for Media, pointed out that there were for key areas that would be lost if these cuts to local services were to go ahead:

•Democratic accountability of local authorities and regional bodies
•Local cultural identity
•Local sporting interest
•Public information in times of crisis.

There was also widespread concern that local and regional newsgathering would be lost.

At the end of the debate, Helen asked the Minister for Culture, Media and Sport Ed Vaizey , “What the real terms cut for the BBC would be now that inflation is running higher than when the decision was taken to freeze the licence fee for six years”.