Backtrack on Zac over false petition claim (From Surrey Comet)

Backtrack on Zac over false petition claim

2:44pm Tuesday 1st June 2010

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A national newspaper was forced to backtrack when it incorrectly printed that Zac Goldsmith had signed letter of protest against BBC cuts.

The letter, sent to The Guardian, stated that losing services such as 6 Music and the Asian Network would be a huge mistake.

But Mr Goldsmith, the Conservative MP for Richmond Park and north Kingston, said he did not agree with the petition, signed by actors Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman.

He said: "To be clear, I am a big believer in the BBC. If it ever faced a genuine threat, I would stand up for it.

"I believe the BBC needs to change, and that should involve cutting back in some areas in order to reinvest in others. This petition is far too simplistic in my view."

He continued: "While I would not want the overall BBC budget to shrink, I believe the corporation has become too expansionist.

"Its purchase of the Lonely Planet book empire for instance was very hard to understand or justify. I’d like to see the BBC scale back in some areas, with the savings used to invest in high quality programmes that contribute to the public good."