On free tv licences for the over-75s: "We were deeply disappointed when the BBC board announced earlier this month that it would be ending that concession from 1 August". Mr Whittingdale was Culture Secretary (and Carrie Symonds was his special advisor) when George Osborne bounced the BBC into future responsibility for this element of social welfare, and has previously acknowledged "it was understood that this [cutting or narrowing the concession] would be a possible outcome". This was backed up by Sir David Clementi in February this year: "Both Tony Hall, the Director-General, and John Whittingdale, the then Secretary of State, are on the record that, at the time the 2015 Agreement was reached, reform of the current concession was a possible outcome."
(In the same statement, Mr Whittingdale urged the BBC to concentrate on "engaging and reporting on local issues across our diverse communities, not just reflecting the views of the metropolitan bubbles of London and Manchester.")
Mr Whittingdale's expertise in broadcasting and social welfare is matched only by his interest in foreign affairs. Here are some of his visits abroad as declared in the MPs Register of Interests over the past ten years.
September 2010 Ukraine
April 2011 Yerevan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
December 2011 Ukraine
September 2011 Hong and Bejing (guest of Huawei and Communist Party of China)
September 2012 Yalta, Ukraine
September 2012 Taiwan
February 2013 Armenia
April 2013 Cannes
August 2013 Gibraltar
September 2013 Armenia and Ukraine
November 2013 Amsterdam
July 2014 Taiwan
September 2014 Ukraine
October 2014 Vienna
March 2015 Vienna
September 2016 Israel
September 2017 Taiwan
Mr Whittingdale was given £5,000 in June 2015 by Alexander Temerko, and a second £5,000 in July 2017. He earned £36,000 from the International Polo Federation from 2017 to 2020, and £12,500 from South West News Services from 2019 to 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment