Tories disagree over 'EastEnders'

Two leading Conservative Party politicians have voiced contrasting opinions on whether EastEnders succeeds in representing "real life".

While shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has marked the BBC soap's 25th anniversary week by wishing the programme a 'happy birthday', shadow children's minister Tim Loughton has branded the show unrealistic and potentially "damaging".

BBC News reports that Hunt spoke out over an article in yesterday's edition of The Guardian, in which columnist Mark Lawson suggested that EastEnders could become "a potential liability" for the BBC if the Tories win the forthcoming general election.

Lawson wrote: "Ed Vaizey and others in [David] Cameron's cultural team have recently seemed to suggest that the best justification of the licence fee is to provide services that commercial organisations do not. In this context, EastEnders becomes a possible example of subsidised TV competing 'too well' against ITV."

However, writing on his website, Hunt responded by claiming that Lawson's assertions "couldn't be more wrong".

The politician said: "[EastEnders] have consistently tackled difficult social issues, and crucially reached large audiences in doing so… So Happy 25th Birthday for Friday from the Shadow Culture team!!"

Meanwhile, commenting on the Conservative At Home blog, Loughton admitted that he is "addicted" to the Walford drama but insisted that "it cannot be portrayed as real life".

While he conceded that soaps can send out "powerful and important messages", Loughton added: "By the same token the stereotyping of many characters in EastEnders has the potential to be very damaging. Social workers are always caricatured as sandal-wearing interferers, the police as pretty dim and flat-footed, and teachers as snotty busybodies."

Loughton also said that EastEnders has a set of characters who "fail to resemble anything like the satellite married family that remains at the heart of British social mores".