Merseymog
Purely Tory dogmatic
government reason - it must be left as it is for the sake of balanced reporting
I gather that that is the precise reason why they want to sell it off. Ch4 is critical of the government and they wish to silence it.
Though it is a state broadcaster, initially financed by the state, it is entirely self supporting, being financed by advertising revenue. The government has no hold over it. It cannot threaten to withdraw its finance, as it can the BBC, because it doesn't finance it.
I am sure that it will take care to sell it to a buyer with tory sympathies who will follow the party line. It looks to me like a decidedly Putinesque move by a government which pays lip service to free speech but only if the free speech favours them and their policies.
I feel like volver. Too much anger and it's only Tuesday. I'm off to plant some lily bulbs.