The government has pulled back from a threat to abolish the BBC licence fee from 2028 after Tory backbenchers claimed that ministers had failed to prepare alternatives.
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, confirmed yesterday that the licence fee would be frozen at £159 for the next two years. She did not, however, repeat a pledge to ditch the funding model altogether when the corporation’s charter was renewed.
Dorries, 64, tweeted on Sunday that this licence fee settlement “will be the last” but used less definitive language in the Commons, where she said that the BBC’s funding would be a matter of debate, adding: “It’s time to begin asking those really serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC.”
Dorries, who was admonished by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, for tweeting policy positions before addressing parliament, was repeatedly asked what alternative to the licence fee the government was proposing. “It’s not for me to decide until I have all the information,” she responded.
Pressed on whether the government would turn the BBC into a voluntary subscription service, Dorries said: “I haven’t mentioned a subscription service. I’ve said that we need to have a debate and discussion about how the BBC is funded.”
The Netflix-style model is favoured by many Tory MPs but even those who think the licence fee is outdated said a switch to a subscription model would not be possible without every home in the UK having a high-speed internet connection.
John Whittingdale, the Tory MP for Maldon and former media minister, said: “For those people who think, ‘Whoopee, after 2027 the licence fee is going to be abolished completely,’ I just think that’s unrealistic . . . I just don’t think we can turn off terrestrial [TV] transmission and everybody will get it through the internet.”
The government has pulled back from a threat to abolish the BBC licence fee from 2028 after Tory backbenchers claimed that ministers had failed to prepare alternatives.
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, confirmed yesterday that the licence fee would be frozen at £159 for the next two years. She did not, however, repeat a pledge to ditch the funding model altogether when the corporation’s charter was renewed.
Dorries, 64, tweeted on Sunday that this licence fee settlement “will be the last” but used less definitive language in the Commons, where she said that the BBC’s funding would be a matter of debate, adding: “It’s time to begin asking those really serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC.”
Dorries, who was admonished by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, for tweeting policy positions before addressing parliament, was repeatedly asked what alternative to the licence fee the government was proposing. “It’s not for me to decide until I have all the information,” she responded.
Pressed on whether the government would turn the BBC into a voluntary subscription service, Dorries said: “I haven’t mentioned a subscription service. I’ve said that we need to have a debate and discussion about how the BBC is funded.”
The Netflix-style model is favoured by many Tory MPs but even those who think the licence fee is outdated said a switch to a subscription model would not be possible without every home in the UK having a high-speed internet connection.
John Whittingdale, the Tory MP for Maldon and former media minister, said: “For those people who think, ‘Whoopee, after 2027 the licence fee is going to be abolished completely,’ I just think that’s unrealistic . . . I just don’t think we can turn off terrestrial [TV] transmission and everybody will get it through the internet.”
Another useless so called minister. Of course this gov wants to privatise the neeb and nhs. Mama mia!
This government has absolutely no idea what the general public want. Some people complain about the BBC, but that doesn’t mean everyone does, and that doesn’t mean they should constantly make threats towards it. Most of the problems at the BBC have been caused by the government not funding it properly and then acting as if it’s all the BBC’s fault. If this government actually cared, it would fund the BBC properly.
​
I also don’t know what they expect to achieve by going after the BBC. It has a lot of support and what they are planning isn’t going to sway people to suddenly vote for the Conservatives.
It’s going to make people who are already annoyed at the government even more annoyed, and everyone else will either realise it’s a distraction tactic so will become annoyed or already hated the BBC to begin with so doing this won’t change their views.
Who is/was the target market for this policy?
The people who claim the BBC is too bias are already sewn up voters for one side or another. The old generally seem to like it, the young are perhaps a bit more skeptical of the licence fee, but are unlikely to vote Tory because of it. I just don’t see who exactly the Government plan to court with this.
Make loads of noise in the press, get all the BBC haters expecting the license fee to end in 2028 and for the BBC to be sold off and broken up and the “woke” parts to be cast into to the outer darkness
Row back in the commons where the same group won’t notice
Lose the next election
Labour doesn’t kill the BBC, tories go in the attack about the will of the people
TV isn’t going anywhere, neither is the fee. You can get online and with a bit of savvy and the right browser (at least on pc/laptops) you wont ever have to look at another ad again. This would mean revenue going more towards online advertising if the fee was scrapped. Well I think that the online ad space is already being dominated, add in that many sites have to put adblock disclaimers to try and guilt you into turning it off. No thanks, I likely didn’t need to use that source, anyway. Fuck advertising right off 🙂 (and TV/tv ad-space too!)
Why on Earth are so many Labour supporters defending the TV license funding model, when it effectively functions as a flat tax?
It’s deeply regressive. Everybody pays the same amount no matter how rich or poor.
Labour should be championing a much fairer payment model. Particularly one that doesn’t involve legally sanctioned threatening letters being sent to vulnerable people.
I slap my head in despair that Labour have walked into such an obvious trap on this one.
Oh no, the distraction wasn’t enough to pull focus from the massive lying cunt in No10.
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Article contents:
The government has pulled back from a threat to abolish the BBC licence fee from 2028 after Tory backbenchers claimed that ministers had failed to prepare alternatives.
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, confirmed yesterday that the licence fee would be frozen at £159 for the next two years. She did not, however, repeat a pledge to ditch the funding model altogether when the corporation’s charter was renewed.
Dorries, 64, tweeted on Sunday that this licence fee settlement “will be the last” but used less definitive language in the Commons, where she said that the BBC’s funding would be a matter of debate, adding: “It’s time to begin asking those really serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC.”
Dorries, who was admonished by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, for tweeting policy positions before addressing parliament, was repeatedly asked what alternative to the licence fee the government was proposing. “It’s not for me to decide until I have all the information,” she responded.
Pressed on whether the government would turn the BBC into a voluntary subscription service, Dorries said: “I haven’t mentioned a subscription service. I’ve said that we need to have a debate and discussion about how the BBC is funded.”
The Netflix-style model is favoured by many Tory MPs but even those who think the licence fee is outdated said a switch to a subscription model would not be possible without every home in the UK having a high-speed internet connection.
John Whittingdale, the Tory MP for Maldon and former media minister, said: “For those people who think, ‘Whoopee, after 2027 the licence fee is going to be abolished completely,’ I just think that’s unrealistic . . . I just don’t think we can turn off terrestrial [TV] transmission and everybody will get it through the internet.”
The government has pulled back from a threat to abolish the BBC licence fee from 2028 after Tory backbenchers claimed that ministers had failed to prepare alternatives.
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, confirmed yesterday that the licence fee would be frozen at £159 for the next two years. She did not, however, repeat a pledge to ditch the funding model altogether when the corporation’s charter was renewed.
Dorries, 64, tweeted on Sunday that this licence fee settlement “will be the last” but used less definitive language in the Commons, where she said that the BBC’s funding would be a matter of debate, adding: “It’s time to begin asking those really serious questions about the long-term funding model of the BBC.”
Dorries, who was admonished by Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, for tweeting policy positions before addressing parliament, was repeatedly asked what alternative to the licence fee the government was proposing. “It’s not for me to decide until I have all the information,” she responded.
Pressed on whether the government would turn the BBC into a voluntary subscription service, Dorries said: “I haven’t mentioned a subscription service. I’ve said that we need to have a debate and discussion about how the BBC is funded.”
The Netflix-style model is favoured by many Tory MPs but even those who think the licence fee is outdated said a switch to a subscription model would not be possible without every home in the UK having a high-speed internet connection.
John Whittingdale, the Tory MP for Maldon and former media minister, said: “For those people who think, ‘Whoopee, after 2027 the licence fee is going to be abolished completely,’ I just think that’s unrealistic . . . I just don’t think we can turn off terrestrial [TV] transmission and everybody will get it through the internet.”
Another useless so called minister. Of course this gov wants to privatise the neeb and nhs. Mama mia!
This government has absolutely no idea what the general public want. Some people complain about the BBC, but that doesn’t mean everyone does, and that doesn’t mean they should constantly make threats towards it. Most of the problems at the BBC have been caused by the government not funding it properly and then acting as if it’s all the BBC’s fault. If this government actually cared, it would fund the BBC properly.
​
I also don’t know what they expect to achieve by going after the BBC. It has a lot of support and what they are planning isn’t going to sway people to suddenly vote for the Conservatives.
It’s going to make people who are already annoyed at the government even more annoyed, and everyone else will either realise it’s a distraction tactic so will become annoyed or already hated the BBC to begin with so doing this won’t change their views.
Who is/was the target market for this policy?
The people who claim the BBC is too bias are already sewn up voters for one side or another. The old generally seem to like it, the young are perhaps a bit more skeptical of the licence fee, but are unlikely to vote Tory because of it. I just don’t see who exactly the Government plan to court with this.
https://twitter.com/mrplitchfield/status/1483072898839592975?s=21
She’s an idiots idiot
Make loads of noise in the press, get all the BBC haters expecting the license fee to end in 2028 and for the BBC to be sold off and broken up and the “woke” parts to be cast into to the outer darkness
Row back in the commons where the same group won’t notice
Lose the next election
Labour doesn’t kill the BBC, tories go in the attack about the will of the people
Profit
>NT: [BBC averts Licence Fee freeze after commissioning several shows based on Nadine Dorries’ books](https://newsthump.com/2022/01/17/bbc-averts-licence-fee-freeze-after-commissioning-several-shows-based-on-nadine-dorries-books/)
>
>In a purely coincidental sequence of events, proposed cuts to the BBC were shelved after it announced it would begin production of big-budget epics based on the Culture Secretary’s best-selling novels such as Shamrock Of Lust and Being Poor Was Great In The Fifties. …
TV isn’t going anywhere, neither is the fee. You can get online and with a bit of savvy and the right browser (at least on pc/laptops) you wont ever have to look at another ad again. This would mean revenue going more towards online advertising if the fee was scrapped. Well I think that the online ad space is already being dominated, add in that many sites have to put adblock disclaimers to try and guilt you into turning it off. No thanks, I likely didn’t need to use that source, anyway. Fuck advertising right off 🙂 (and TV/tv ad-space too!)
Why on Earth are so many Labour supporters defending the TV license funding model, when it effectively functions as a flat tax?
It’s deeply regressive. Everybody pays the same amount no matter how rich or poor.
Labour should be championing a much fairer payment model. Particularly one that doesn’t involve legally sanctioned threatening letters being sent to vulnerable people.
I slap my head in despair that Labour have walked into such an obvious trap on this one.
Oh no, the distraction wasn’t enough to pull focus from the massive lying cunt in No10.