18 Doughty Street

18 Doughty Street will be the UK’s first political internet TV channel. This means it will not be subject to the restrictions terrestrial TV and radio have to abide by. The aim of the channel is to provide “a mix of opinionated and controversial programming,” essentially a TV reproduction of the world of blogging.

I’m looking forward to the launch of the channel on the 10^th October. It has the potential to provide the level of debate that is missing in the world of politics at the moment, over issues that really matter, all in a world that isn’t restricted on its content.

Tim Montgomerie one of the presenters for the channel describes it as…

“an anti-establishment, insurgent channel standing up for the little guy against big media, big business, big politics and big and undemocratic international institutions.

“From our little house in London's Doughty Street we want to challenge the biases of big media, the tendency of some big businesses to act against the public interest, the consensual nature of too much contemporary politics and the unaccountability of institutions like the EU and UN.”

I just hope this turns out to be the case. My main concern over the channel is the people behind it. Iain Dale and Tim Montgomerie are both from the right side of politics and the Conservative Party. So will this just be a tool to promote the Conservatives and right sided views? I certainly hope not. If the controllers of the channel encourage debate from all sides of the political spectrum rather than trying to direct it and their guests don’t all think along the same lines as Ian and Tim, then this channel will be required viewing.

Here is the trailer for 18 Doughty Street courtesy of YouTube…