This week's General Election will hopefully signal a move away from the divisive issue of Brexit and back towards the domestic agenda.
According to a leading journalist the Conservatives, should they retain power, are hatching a plan to radically overhaul the anachronistic method of funding the BBC.
Alex Wickham, senior political correspondent of BuzzFeed UK and former Guido Fawkes news editor, tweeted earlier today that Conservative spin chief Dominic Cummings and senior Downing Street aides are "looking at either abolishing (the TV licence) entirely or decriminalising non-payment."
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was out on the campaign trail in Labour's northern heartlands today. Speaking to journalists in Washington, Tyne and Wear, the subject of the TV licence fee came up.
"At this stage we are not planning to get rid of all licence fees, though I am certainly looking at it", the Prime Minister said.
"But you have to ask yourself whether that kind of approach to funding a TV media organisation still makes sense in the long term given the way other media organisations manage to fund themselves.
"The system of funding out of effectively a general tax bears reflection. How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels."
Any changes to the BBC's funding model would require Parliament to pass fresh legislation, with the broadcaster's Royal Charter currently guaranteeing the existence of the TV licence fee until 2027.
The Government, whoever that is, will soon be starting separate negotiations about the rate of the TV licence, which could prove the ideal opportunity to rein the BBC in.
Responding to the Prime Minister's comments, a BBC spokesman said: "As we've said before, the licence fee ensures a universal BBC which serves everyone, is the most popular funding system among the public and is agreed as the method of funding the BBC for another eight years."
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1 comment:
"Responding to the Prime Minister's comments, a BBC spokesman said: "As we've said before, the licence fee ensures a universal BBC which serves everyone, is the most popular funding system among the public and is agreed as the method of funding the BBC for another eight years."
Sorry pal you are wrong there, we don't like paying your tax collected with lies and threats. And don't even think we will let you drag YouTube eyc into your net.
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