UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage smiles as he hears the results during the European Parliamentary elections count at the Guildhall in Southampton, Hampshire.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage smiles as he campaigns ahead of the general election on February 12, 2015 in Benfleet, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Nigel Farage has said the BBC should be “cut back to the bone” and should stop producing popular entertainment programming such as Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, and Top Gear.

The Ukip leader said he wanted to see the BBC dramatically shrunk and only produce "public service" output - defined by regulator Ofcom as programmes broadcast "for the public benefit". The move could see the end of more frivolous entertainment programmes.

“Do I think the BBC needs to involve itself and engage itself in many other fields of entertainment and sport, given the whole world has changed with cable television and satellite television? No,” he told a public meeting in Rochester.

“I would like to see the BBC cut back to the bone to be purely a public service broadcaster with an international reach, and I would have thought you could do that with a licence fee that was about a third of what it currently is.”

Examples of public service broadcasting given by Ofcom include "local news coverage, arts programmes and religious broadcasts".

Mr Farage said he did not want to see the corporation entirely privatised but that the licence fee should be cut to about £50 a year, a two-thirds reduction in income.

Mr Farage strongly criticised the BBC after a debate on Thursday which he claimed had a "left-wing" audience biased against Ukip.

He branded those present a "remarkable audience even by the left-wing standards of the BBC" after he failed to win them over.

The licence fee is currently £145.50 for a colour TV – around £12.13 a month.

The fee is compulsory to watch live broadcast television at any address, irrespective of whether or not BBC services are accessed.

The Conservatives say they would freeze the licence fee and want a “comprehensive” review of the corporation’s Royal Charter.

Labour has pledged to see the BBC deliver value for money, while the Liberal Democrats say they do not want the licence fee to rise faster than inflation.

Source: Independent

Independent News Service