Sport 'a luxury' under the Tories

Mr Bradshaw said Labour would always be committed to the BBC

Sport and culture would be "decimated" by a Conservative government, Labour minister Ben Bradshaw has said.

The culture, media and sport secretary told the Labour conference the Tories would turn both into "luxuries to be paid for by those who can afford them".

Tory Mayor Boris Johnson had "let one cat out of the bag last week when he advocated charging for museums", Mr Bradshaw said.

He also claimed Labour had ensured "the best for all" since 1997.

Mr Bradshaw has previously outlined plans to share the BBC licence fee with ITV to fund regional news.

But he told the conference that Labour would "always be committed to the BBC".

He said the government planned to preserve public service television and help other broadcasters, but in contrast, a Tory election victory would spell the "death of local and regional news".

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version