Stop the BBC Look East merger

Mayor Dave Hodgson has signed a joint letter to the Director General of the BBC with other Leaders of other Councils, public sector and private organisationscalling on the BBC to reverse their decision to merge the two branches of Look East.

This comes after the BBC announced plans to end the Cambridge-based version on the regional news programme. This would move one of Bedford Borough residents' major sources of local news 100 miles away to Norwich.

Mayor Dave said "Though it isn't perfect, I am a believer in the BBC and the work it does to hold politicians to account, providing credible and accessible localised news. In this moment, when the standards of public office are being heavily discussed, we need more reputable sources of news, not fewer. We have also seen how essential localised news is during the pandemic. Without credible, local news sources it would have been much more difficult to provide vital public safety information to a large number of people."

You can sign a petition calling on the BBC to reverse their decision to merge the two branches of Look East at https://bedfordlibdems.org.uk/LookEast.