The future of BBC licence fee is in doubt after appointment of John Whittingdale, the chair of the commons culture committee, as the new culture secretary. Whittingdale, who has chaired the culture, media and sport select committee since 2005, will take a tough stance against the BBC when charter renewal negotiations begin later this year. In October, he described the BBC licence fee as “worse than poll tax” and said the £145.50 charge was unsustainable in the long term.