Official lets slip secret Channel 4 privatisation plan

The news was disclosed after secret Government documents detailing the plans were photographed in the hands of an official in Downing Street on Thursday.

The government is in talks to privatise Channel 4, according to a document photographed as it was carried by an unnamed official into No 10.

A careless Downing Street official has revealed that the Government is reviving plans to privatise Channel 4, despite recent denials.

Its chairman Lord Burns has reportedly been considering a partial or complete sale to address its budget deficit.

The DCMS issued a statement and said it is looking at different possibilities for Channel 4.

“Channel 4 has an important remit and we are looking at a range of options as to how to continue to deliver this, including options put forward by Channel 4”, the spokeswoman said.

The paper suggests Channel 4 will now be ordered to “open their books” to Ministers ahead of the likely sell-off.

In August, Whittingdale told the Guardian Edinburgh global television festival that “The ownership of Channel 4 is not now under debate”.

Earlier this month in the Commons, Broadcasting Minister Ed Vaizey faced pressure from right-wing Tory MPs to justify the benefits of taxpayers owning a “left-wing broadcaster”.

Channel 4’s remit to cater for minority audiences and take risks is considered by some within the broadcaster as the greatest challenge to privatisation.

The documents were shown on the Twitter feed of freelance photographer Steve Back who later tweeted: “For the last six years I have been telling these public servants to cover up”.

The note then uses anacronyms which are thought to refer to Shareholder Executive (ShEx), which controls Government stakes in private sector companies, and the Cabinet Office (CO).

Reports have suggested that the government could raise around £1 billion by privatitising Channel 4.