Jo Stevens responding to further BBC job cuts announcement

"The huge increase in job cuts is a worrying sign of the pressures the corporation is under.

"Although some of these cuts have are caused by the Covid-19 pandemic affecting production, the root cause remains the government’s decision to slash BBC funding. We've seen £800 million lost so far in this charter period, not to mention the Tories’ broken promise on the over-75s’ free tv licence, where the cost of £250 million was passed to the BBC.

"Ministers need to take responsibility and stop hiding behind the BBC management – they caused these cuts, they should stand up and be counted."

Note to editors:

• BBC News to cut 520 jobs https://twitter.com/pressgazette/status/1283389810032304129