AMID growing anger from viewers and listeners, the BBC has brazenly gone ahead with announcing another increase in the licence fee – taking it to £159 a year.
It is yet another kick in the teeth for those sick of paying for a propagandised service they no longer like or trust. But perhaps most of all, it is a further blow for the over-75s, most of whom saw their free licences scrapped last year.
Yesterday, we had Gary Lineker twisting the knife with a tweet about the increase that was condemned as ‘mocking the poor’. The multi-millionaire BBC Match of the Day presenter, who is on £1.3million a year – a £400,000 reduction on his previous salary – gave details of the rise, adding: ‘But I’ve just taken a pay cut.’
The licence increase from £157.50 – the fifth annual rise in a row – was bitterly attacked by John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
‘Another hike in the hated TV tax is the last thing struggling households need,’ he said. ‘Brits are fed up with seeing the Beeb splash their cash on loaded luvvies, politicised programming and generous expenses for BBC bosses. It’s time to scrap the licence fee and let the public decide what’s worth paying for.’
With more than 750,000 over-75s already reportedly refusing to pay the licence and millions of other users resenting it, does this latest increase herald a revolt that will finally end the iniquitous fee?
Feel free to discuss this or anything else on your mind.
