It will be interesting to see how the BBC reports the news that one political party, namely UKIP, is going into this election pledging to scrap the BBC licence fee.
Their economics spokesman Patrick O'Flynn is quoted in various papers giving the reasons behind his party's new policy:
There are three key reasons why the TV licence has had its day.
The first is technological advance meaning the very idea of charging people a poll tax to be able to watch a screen has become obsolete in the era of Amazon, Netflix and online streaming.
The second is that prosecutions for non-payment are taking up huge amounts of court time and criminalising many otherwise law-abiding people who are simply strapped for cash. Single mothers are particularly badly hit.
The third and for me clinching reason is the BBC’s record of political bias, whether over Brexit, the debate over mass immigration, climate change, penal policy, the US Presidential election coverage or a host of other issues.
I'd like to see the BBC converted into a kind of media building society. This would be done in three ways:
ReplyDelete1. Empower all licence fee (subsequently subscription payers) with a vote on who is elected to the BBC board.
2. After 5 years convert the licence fee to an opt-out subscription service (with pin controlled access to most TV channels). This would be totally decriminalised, there being no legal penalty for failure to pay the subscription.
3. There should be a legal framework, limiting number of highly paid management position and then ensuring external individuals with relevant experience are involved in selection of senior managers at the BBC.