Richard Holden, chairman of the Conservative Party, said the BBC «needs to understand the country it is called upon to serve» ;
The Conservative Party chairman said the BBC did not have a «God-given right» to exist as he suggested the corporation had not always understood Britain.
Richard Holden has raised new questions about the BBC's impartiality and warned that coverage of some issues was being hampered by «liberal establishment» bias.
He also called on the BBC to stop going into «dead ends» after campaigners reviewed its reporting and suggested a biased approach to the debate about race and gender.
Lucy Fraser, the culture secretary, this week confirmed the corporation's website and social media channels will be monitored by Ofcom in a bid to allay audience concerns about «sufficient impartiality».
In an interview with political newsletter The Telegraph, Holden was asked whether he thought the BBC was biased.
“I think there is a broad liberal establishment element within the BBC and that skews their view of certain things,” said he.< /p>
“Some aspects of the BBC are doing very well. I actually really like the regional news coverage, and the work of the World Service is fundamentally important for Britain.
“Dead ends”
“But sometimes it reaches some dead ends, a bit like the Civil Service does? Absolutely, and they need to seriously think about it.
“I think the BBC should properly, like many other institutions, stop thinking about itself, stop believing that it has a God-given right to exist, and actually reflect the broadest views of British society . That doesn't mean he has to go down every rabbit hole, but he has to understand the country he has to serve.»
Earlier this week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt hinted that he plans to unveil a major reduction package taxes in the spring Budget, and Mr Holden has promised the Conservatives will «put money back into people's pockets» in March.
Asked about the fact that the Conservative Government has the highest peacetime tax burden in UK history, he said: “We have been able to support the British people over the last five years, despite these big, big challenges, both with Covid, So it is with the wars in Great Britain. Ukraine and the Middle East. Once we make these decisions, we can put money back into people's pockets.
“The first stage was the National Insurance cuts, the second stage will be the budget and then we are going to the third stage of a general election.”
The Tory chairman also defended cutting the size of the army — which is now the smallest in centuries — after the head of the army suggested the public would need to be mobilized if Britain went to war.
«We have to keep an eye on where the technology is, and part of that means you don't need as many people on the ground,» Mr Holden said.
“We will always need a significant army. But things have to be different than they were in the past.»
Labour is the enemy
Mr Holden also insisted the Tory party had «agreed on 99 per cent of the ground» after the split over Mr Sunak's Rwanda Bill, which dozens of MPs say is not tough enough.
“The truth is that the Conservative Party essentially takes the same view when it comes to tackling illegal migration. Labor doesn't have a plan to do this, and why doesn't it have a plan to do it? They are not interested.
“We need to be clear that the enemy of the British people on these issues is the Labor Party, and we need to continue to communicate this more actively. And it’s the same with taxation and in terms of public services.”
As Richard Tice's rebel centre-right Reform UK party hit a new high of 13 per cent in a YouGov poll, Mr Holden accused Reform of «seeming hell-bent on sending Keir Starmer to Downing Street».
» Reform supporters know that when it comes down to it, Rishi and the wider Conservative team are on their side,» he insisted.
«There will be a vote for any other party at the next general election ranked Keir Starmer in 10th place.»
Amid renewed interest in the assisted death debate, Mr Holden said the issue was «incredibly complex» as he recalled the deaths of three of his grandparents in the past. two years, one of whom suffered from dementia for nine years.
“I think this is an incredibly difficult question. The law must take into account individual circumstances. I think this is happening now. We have to be very careful in trying to change this.
He added: “We have to be very careful in our debates because all human life is valuable.”
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