In an article for the FT today, shadow culture secretary Tim Yeo calls for the BBC's public service obligation to be reined in.

He will also call for the licence fee to be cut and suggest that viewers pay for certain services.

"Few people even within the BBC would claim all its current output constitutes public service broadcasting," he writes. "Freedom to develop in this way would give the BBC and its customers more opportunities, not less."

His article comes as culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, is expected to call for a public debate on the future of the BBC.