Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP Steve Brine stood up for BBC local radio in a Parliamentary debate held on Tuesday 5th April in Westminster Hall.
The debate was called by Mr Brine's colleague Dr Therese Coffey MP (Suffolk Coastal) and called for the BBC to find savings in departments other than local radio, such as our own BBC Radio Solent.
Speaking in Westminster Hall, Dr Coffey said: "BBC local radio reaches about 7.4m listeners across its various stations and that includes 2.5m people who do not listen to any other BBC radio station.
"One thing that concerns me is that licence fee payers have not been asked for their opinion."
Referring to the BBC in general, Roger Gale MP (Thanet North), said: "There is a huge amount of waste. I would like the new BBC chairman to ensure this is tackled and allow the light of local radio, which illuminates people's lives up and down the country, to be able to continue to burn."
Winchester MP Steve Brine, a former BBC radio journalist, said: "I would consider myself a friend of the BBC, but like all friends worth having, one can sometimes be critical and not always say what friends want to hear."
Mr Brine went on to detail his experience in the field, and how local radio was both fun and, well, local!
He added: "Local radio should be a vibrant and often risky broadcasting environment, where young talent can grow and learn and where the local stories, which we often hear on network coverage, can be unearthed. In my limited experience of broadcasting, and especially radio broadcasting, it is as much in the heart as in the head.
"To create content that is interesting and engaging, it is necessary to create a sense of community that means the listeners will tune in to be a part of the team as much as to hear what is said. Terry Wogan on Radio 2 with his TOGs-Terry's old geezers or gals-is a brilliant example of that, but there are hundreds of examples in BBC local radio across the country, including on BBC Radio Solent."
Following the debate the BBC announced that no decisions had yet been made.
Pictured; Steve speaks in Westminster Hall.
More information ...
You can access the entire debate here.