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The Economist April 25th 2020 Britain 47
2 Another option would be to make the The first stems from the prime minis-
bbc rely on advertising, like publicly ter’s character. The charge that early this
owned Channel 4. Ad-supported public year he was preoccupied with country
broadcasting is common in Europe. But the weekends and his private life corresponds,
idea has few supporters in Britain. Letting fairly or not, with a view common among
the bbc run ads would suck revenue away critics that he is work-shy and resents the
from others—“like dropping a nuclear burdens of office. At the election, Mr John-
bomb on uk media,” shudders the head of son’s gameness for a pint and a laugh was
one big media group. an asset after Theresa May’s mirthlessness.
The most radical proposal is to turn the It could now become a liability.
bbc into a Netflix-esque subscription ser- The second is his agenda. Mr Johnson
vice, letting viewers opt out. This would be idolises Winston Churchill, Britain’s war-
impossible with Britain’s current broad- time leader, of whom he has written a bio-
cast infrastructure, which has no “condi- graphy. But he campaigned as a peacetime
tional access” capability. But in time more prime minister, offering prosperity, stabil-
video and audio will be streamed by broad- ity and levity rather than good governance
band. The bbc’s free iPlayer streaming app in a crisis. Mr Johnson’s promise to end “ar-
already requires users to sign in. It would guing about arguing” over Brexit, reverse
just need to add a paywall. austerity and “unleash Britain’s potential”
That would be blasphemy at the bbc, resembles not the Churchill of the second
whose first director-general, John Reith, world war, but that of the general election
rejoiced that “the same music rings as of 1951, who promised to end “evenly bal-
sweetly in mansion as in cottage.” Yet the Politics anced party strife”, uphold the welfare state
corporation has privately looked into how and allow Britain’s “native genius to flour-
subscription might work. A draft internal Jolly difficult ish and fructify”.
report in 2013, seen by The Economist, rec- The government’s about-turn on the eu
ommended a “‘divorce settlement’ with the scheme shows how quickly the political
state”, in which the licence fee would no weather has changed. So did Rishi Sunak’s
longer be compulsory and the bbc would budget on March 11th. Delivered just as the
be free to charge viewers and raise finance Covid-19 exposes flaws in Britain’s World Health Organisation declared a pan-
in the markets. The proposal was rejected demic, and 12 days before Britain’s lock-
good-times government
by Lord Hall and the report watered down. down, it earmarked £12bn ($15bn) to deal
The corporation has nonetheless gone t was an unusual error for a diplomat of with covid-19, and £640bn for infrastruc-
on to experiment with some paid-for ser- ISir Simon McDonald’s experience. On ture spending over five years. Yet spending
vices. In 2017 in America, together with itv, April 21st the foreign-office boss told mps on covid-19 already stands closer to
it launched BritBox, which for $6.99 a that ministers had spurned an eu scheme £100bn. The original agenda will be diffi-
month offers streaming access to both to procure ventilators and protective kit. “It cult to resuscitate. Indeed, Mr Johnson
channels’ back catalogues. BritBox has was a political decision,” he said. Later, he may have to scale back his ambitions, with
since opened in Canada and Britain; Aus- “clarified” that Britain had in fact missed cash and optimism in shorter supply.
tralia is next. Channel 4 joined this month. the invitation thanks to a mix-up. This re- Then there is Mr Johnson’s governing
With 1m subscribers in North America, it peated a claim first made by Downing philosophy: that voters should get what
has a lot of ground to catch up with Netflix, Street in March, but which is still met with they want, when they want it. Supporters
which has 70m. For the bbc and itv this is incredulity in Brussels. Britain has now, say this is humility before the wisdom of
galling: they proposed a similar venture in somewhat belatedly, joined the scheme. the electorate. Critics call it populism. In
2009, when Netflix was still sending out Boris Johnson’s team have not had a policy, it points to things such as tougher
dvds by post, but British antitrust regula- good week. The Sunday Timesangered min- penalties for sex offenders, a hard Brexit,
tors vetoed it, fearing it would limit com- isters with a story concluding that a com- and the reopening of dismantled rural rail-
petition. Today that looks like a mistake. placent government, led by an absent ways, whatever the Treasury may think.
Lord Hall will depart in the summer. prime minister, had squandered five weeks Covid-19 exposes the limits of such an ap-
Though he steadied the ship after the disas- when it should have prepared for the pan- proach. Though simple to understand, Mr
trous 54-day tenure of George Entwistle, demic. An airlift of protective kit from Tur- Johnson’s philosophy is not an easy one by
the consensus is that his successor must key arrived days later than had been prom- which to govern. The struggle to find
take more risks. They will need political ised due to paperwork hitches. Despite gowns and masks shows how ostensibly
nous to deal with frustrated Tories, admin- some progress, the government remains simple tasks can prove complex. A govern-
istrative skill to manage more than 20,000 far short of its target of carrying out ment adept at sloganeering now faces del-
staff and journalistic experience to make 100,000 tests a day by April 30th. And it icate trade-offs with imperfect evidence.
the daily editorial judgments that amount continues to resist calls to clarify how the Rushing to build field hospitals and
to “whether you have shit cover your an- country will leave lockdown. ventilators chimed with Mr Johnson’s ideal
kles, knees, waist or head”, as one former At first glance, the prime minister is po- of a fast and muscular government. But un-
decision-maker puts it. Tim Davie, the boss litically strong. As with other leaders, his winding the shutdown will be a frustrating
of bbc Studios; Alex Mahon, who runs approval ratings jumped immediately after process. Mr Johnson, his scientific advisers
Channel 4; and Charlotte Moore, the bbc’s the covid-19 lockdown. His own hospitali- and public opinion are aligned behind the
head of content, are among those tipped. sation has wedded him to the struggle— lockdown today. Over time they will proba-
The hostile political environment has put and to the National Health Service. He bly diverge. Mr Johnson is said to fear a sec-
some candidates off, and the £450,000 sal- commands a mighty majority. Yet the pan- ond spike in cases if social distancing is re-
ary is not high by industry standards, re- demic is beginning show up flaws in his laxed too soon. Thanks to covid-19, his
marks an executive at another channel. government that could dog it for a long supporters who voted for a return of the
“But,” he concedes, “it’s a big train set”. 7 time to come. good times will be waiting rather longer. 7
