The British government planning to “whack” the BBC?

Is the BBC in trouble? The beloved British broadcaster has been running strong for decades, providing largely independent news coverage of the events of the day, plus an untold number of popular shows, among them Doctor Who, Fleabag, Bodyguard, The Last Kingdom, and on and on.

But a new report in the newspaper The Sunday Times claims that, according to sources within British Prime Minster Boris Johnson’s government, those days could be ending. “We are not bluffing on the license fee,” said the source, referring to an alleged plan to stop the BBC’s normal source of funding once the organization’s charter runs out in 2027. “We are having a consultation and we will whack it. It has got to be a subscription model. They’ve got hundreds of radio stations, they’ve got all these TV stations and a massive website. The whole thing needs massive pruning back.”

Opponents are arguing that this is a veiled attempt by Johnson’s government to dismantle an organization that unafraid to be critical of the organization. Here’s how a 38 Degrees petition to “Save our BBC” puts it:

"The government have declared war on our BBC. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to clamp down on being held to account. They’ve pledged to scrap the licence fee and cut dozens of TV & radio stations, they want to “prune” its reach into people’s homes.Our BBC is a world leading public service. The way that it is funded means that it’s independent of government and corporate pressure. At a time when fake news can spread like wildfire and when so much is at stake, this is a dangerous attack on democracy."

This petition has racked up hundreds of thousands of signatures, including by prominent figures like Philip Pullman, the author behind His Dark Materials, currently being adapted as a TV series by HBO and — you guessed it — the BBC.

For what it’s worth, officials in Johnson’s government are denying there’s any plan in place to weaken the BBC. ““It is simply not the case that there is some preordained decision about the future funding of the BBC out there,” said transport secretary Grant Shapps. “The charter runs to 2027 so there is long way to go on all these decisions.” He also described the BBC as a “national treasure.”

Still, people seem spooked, with even conservative MPs sounds their alarm. “I hope the Sunday Times story about the BBC is kite-flying,” tweeted Damian Green, the former secretary of state for work and pensions. “Destroying the BBC wasn’t in our manifesto and would be cultural vandalism.”

The idea of a government leaning on a free press is pretty scary, so we’ll be watching this story to see where it goes. If you’re interested in signing the petition, you can do so here.

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h/t Deadline