Journalist and presenter Amol Rajan has delivered the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2026, where he warned that the BBC is "screwed" on its current trajectory – but backed an idea that, he believes, could potentially save it.
The lecture began by delving into the troubling research and statistics that indicate a severe breakdown in civic society, as fewer and fewer people have strong social connections, strengthened by the clubs and support groups of decades' past.
Instead, Rajan laments that the rise if the smartphone and social media sites, have turned the UK into a country full of people who are "scrolling alone," lacking even a shared popular culture as we are drawn into hyper-personalised algorithmic feeds.
"Loneliness – or aloneness – used to be an old person thing. Now it's a young person thing," he said. "A lot of young people just became extremely online during the last 15 years, and that spiked during the pandemic."
Rajan argued that the disintegration of a well-connected society has contributed to the extreme, destabilising political polarisation of recent years, as people become less familiar – and therefore, obliged to – the people with whom they share a street, town or country.
Turning attention to his soon-to-be former employer, the BBC, he argued that the corporation's programming, when it was more broadly watched by the British public, had a "bridging" effect that helped maintain a sense of civic cohesion.
Citing a personal example, Rajan said: "When I was a boy, we used to watch endless sitcoms on repeat, as my parents felt the best way to rub along with people was to laugh with them...
"Only now do I realise that the best thing about these shows wasn't the writing, or the characters, or the laughs we had at home; it was the fact that decades later, I could still share those laughs with my peers."
He added: "Screen culture can and must once again aim to unite us; to be the water from our common well."
While accepting that the BBC, even in better health, could not "reverse" every negative trend impacting the country, "it can and absolutely should help with some," including "the decline of our public domain – that shared space in which we are connected by stories".
However, if the BBC is to have any hope of doing so, meaningful action must be taken urgently to save it, argued Rajan, who chastised successive governments and culture secretaries for their inaction, besides repeated consultations.
"Have the debate, yes; but then make a strong decision, knowing that the failure to make a decision also has consequences," he implored. "In the case of the BBC, the consequences are clear."
Rajan's comment that the BBC is "screwed" referred specifically to the compounding effect of fewer and fewer people paying the licence fee, which he says spells financial doom if it continues at its current rate – no matter how many "savings" are found.
The BBC is currently seeking £500 million worth of cuts, £160 million of which is to be delivered by the 2028-29 financial year, expected to involve 2,000 job losses (via BBC News).
"These cuts are just the beginning; there is worse to come; the finances are much worse than most people even here realise," the broadcaster continued.
"What we need is political leadership. This country has new political leadership. I happen to know they are listening. And I have a message for them: Make a decision; stop dithering; this could not be more urgent; and this could be a great legacy for you."
Although he declined to say with certainty whether it would succeed, Rajan placed his support behind an idea he noticed had bipartisan support spanning from the likes of Conservative politician John Redwood to current culture secretary, Labour's Lisa Nandy MP.
That idea, he explains, is transforming the BBC into a mutual organisation or cooperative, owned by the British public.
Rajan said: "The BBC is running adverts saying 'the BBC belongs to all of us'. Under the Mutual model, it actually would belong to all of us.
View oEmbed on the source website"If run properly, like all the best Mutuals, the BBC would be tasked with growing revenue. And if some portion of it was available to the right outside investors, the BBC could raise capital that could either be re-invested for the long-term, as with many endowment funds, or deployed in pursuit of growth and a return on that investment."
Rajan finished his argument by noting that Andy Burnham, who recently entered No. 10, is the first UK Prime Minister to represent both the Labour and Co-operative parties, with the concept of Mutuals having a long history with the latter movement.
"There is this confluence of circumstances," added Rajan. "A Prime Minister from the Co-operative Party; a Chief of Staff in No 10 who knows the BBC all too well; a Culture Secretary who believes in mutualisation; and people on the Right of British politics who believe in it too."
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