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British ministers are “running scared” of Donald Trump in their refusal to force US streaming services to fund more UK-focused shows, the director of the BBC’s Wolf Hall has warned.
Peter Kosminsky said a “supine and terrified” government was worried about anything that might upset the “bully in the White House”.
He said programmes that spoke truth to power were needed amid global tensions and political division. However, he said important UK dramas were “under threat as never before”, with the BBC and ITV struggling to fund shows and cautious about productions that did not appeal to audiences outside Britain.
Kosminsky is calling for a 5% levy on streaming companies – to be spent on UK-focused television – and said a similar surcharge had been adopted by 17 other countries.
But he accused UK ministers of being afraid to follow suit because of the US president’s threat to impose huge tariffs on films made outside the US.
“We’re running scared of Donald Trump and his tariffs,” he said in a speech last week, reproduced in Radio Times.
“The government is so supine and terrified that it’s not prepared to run the risk of upsetting Trump and the delicate trading relationship that they’ve fought so hard – and grovelled so intensely – to achieve.”
Kosminsky said ministers could still be pressured into changing course because they were “terrified of swings in public support”.
He added: “If you care about public service broadcasting, if you care about the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, I would beg you – get out there and campaign for the government to stand up to the bully in the White House and protect the 100-year tradition of public service broadcasting in this country, of which we are rightly proud, before it is lost for ever.”
His speech follows warnings from other television figures, including Elisabeth Murdoch, that UK stories could be lost from the small screen as producers and broadcasters turn to shows they can sell internationally, most notably in the US.
Kosminsky said the overall effect had been to ensure shows such as Three Girls, a drama about the Rochdale child sexual abuse scandal, or Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which brought a huge miscarriage of justice to wider public attention, would not be made in today’s market.
He said Wolf Hall was turned down by streamers and that senior figures behind the historical drama had voluntarily given up payments.
His demand for a 5% levy on companies such as Netflix and Amazon Prime has split the television industry. Other senior figures are pushing for a significant increase in the tax relief, which they say would ensure more shows are economically viable.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “As the creative industries minister, Sir Chris Bryant, told the culture, media and sport select committee in January, the government has no plans to introduce a levy on streaming services.”
