Another Cabinet row between Culture Sec and DWP boss breaks out over BBC’s future

ANOTHER Cabinet row exploded today as two senior ministers clashed over the future of the BBC for the second week running.

Work and Pensions minister Therese Coffey, a former BBC journo, went head to head with Culture Sec Nadine Dorries over her proposals to freeze and decriminalise non payment of the licence fee.

Ms Dorries updated Cabinet on the funding settlement for the BBC and discussed how to further ensure the broadcaster was best prepared for the future in an age of streaming.

But she was met by fierce resistance, with other ministers starting to side with DWP chief Coffey – who for the second week in a row led an outcry at cut to the Beeb’s funding.

A cabinet source said: “Therese tore into Nadine but this week others piped up with her, saying there had to be due process before the broadcaster’s funding is put to the sword.

“This is fast becoming an unsavory weekly spat and too much of a regular occurrence.”

Last week Ms Dorries confirmed she is freezing the £159 licence fee for two years — and wants to wean the Beeb off it altogether by 2027.

And she said failing to pay should no longer be a criminal offence, telling the Commons that struggling families should not be “threatened with bailiffs at the door.”