CHANNEL 4 AND THE TOUR DE FRANCE

Early day motion 378, tabled 27 February 2001 by Lynne Jones (Labour). Signed by 44 members.

That this House deplores the decision of Channel 4 to discontinue its coverage of the Tour de France after 15 years, during which the audience for this great sporting event grew to over a million; considers this decision is particularly regrettable in the light of the enormous success of the British cyclists at the Sydney Olympics, the associated increase in participation and interest in cycling in the UK and the fact that Channel 4 have already purchased the rights to broadcast this event for the next three years; and calls on Channel 4 to either reverse the decision or to license the rights to another terrestrial channel.

Signatures by party: Labour 36, Labour/Co-operative 3, Liberal Democrat 2, Plaid Cymru 2, Conservative 1.