Border Television

The motion

That the Parliament notes that 24 February 2009 marks the end of Border Television news broadcasts to the Borders, south of Scotland, Cumbria, north Northumberland and the Isle of Man from its Carlisle studios before its closure and sale, with the flagship news programme, Lookaround, to be produced in Gateshead, with a 15-minute opt-out for the former Border region from a combined Border and Tyne Tees news service; believes that Border Television and its Carlisle news studio provided its viewers with well-informed, local and entertaining news coverage for nearly 50 years and did much to protect the strength of local identity and cross-border links in the essentially rural communities that it served; further notes that Border Television acted as a valuable platform in the careers of some of the most highly regarded broadcasters in the United Kingdom; regrets that the qualities of Border Television and the strength of public opinion in the Border region were insufficient to persuade Ofcom not to allow the merger with ITV Tyne Tees, and hopes that the spirit and quality of Border Television, and particularly its emphasis on the importance of strong local stories in news gathering, can be carried forward under the new arrangements from Gateshead.

No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

Con 10 SNP 3 Lab 1 Green 1

Party shown is each supporter’s party when the motion was published.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S3M-03517 by reference.