BBC licence fee 'unenforceable', says culture secretary
The culture secretary has said the BBC's licence fee is "unenforceable" and insisted "no options are off the table" when the government begins a review into the corporation's current funding model later this year.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Lisa Nandy said there were "problems" with the annual charge, with "fewer and fewer people" paying the £174.50 fee.
It is tiresomely obvious that the 'unenforceable' narrative is almost certainly a cover for introducing an enforceable form of BBC funding. A safe bet is that those who never watch the BBC and don't currently pay the licence fee will eventually have its greasy hand in their pockets unless they emigrate.
Tedious stuff, but the Lisa Nandys of this world have to dance around these issues to pretend they haven't settled things in principle some time ago.
Must take a certain kind of blockhead resilience to go through with it though. Almost impressive, no wonder they grind down opposition.
6 comments:
No options are off the table, except of course the obvious and correct one of making it a subscription service.
When I retired to France and entered the French Tax Regime there was a little box on my tax return that one could 'cross' if one did not have a TV. This resulted in the TV Tax not being applied. About 10 years ago the box dissapeared and everyone now pays for the TV. The great majority had their tax demand reduced, but rhose without a TV had the tax demand raised by about 160€/year.
I expect that the same will happen in the UK.
Just another civil service cost whether we want them or not!
Peter - yes, that's the one. The whole consultation game seems to be designed to obscure that and keep it off the table.
Anon - you may be right, something similar seems likely. I think it has probably been settled already although it won't be admitted.
Just a couple of decades ago, people were sufficiently fearful of the "detector vans" and the threat that they could tell whether you were watching. Now, the internet is full of people telling us it was all bluff, and how to avoid paying. And the internet now means that few people are dependent on the TV for news and entertainment. It's done for the telly.
Nandy can obviously get us to pay for the BBC via VAT and PAYE. But it will be like a tax on horses and swords, collected via general revenue.
Scrobs - that's it, another hand in our pockets.
Sam - "But it will be like a tax on horses and swords,"
Ha ha, yes it will be like that and is likely to seem almost as anachronistic from the beginning.
Post a Comment