Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has urged the BBC to pursue further cuts after fewer households paid the television licence fee. Her comments came during a Radio 4 Today interview disrupted by a technical fault, which presenter Justin Webb jokingly attributed to financial pressures, although Nandy said the corporation was not in dire straits.

Nandy backed director general Matt Brittin’s £500 million cost-cutting programme and said the BBC should improve efficiency and increase commercial revenue. Licence-fee-paying households fell by 500,000 to 23.3 million, while programmes including Blankety Blank and Ski Sunday have been cancelled and further cuts to shows, channels and staffing are reportedly possible.