Quizzes & Puzzles1 min ago
Tv Licence Fee To Rise
//BBC confirms viewers will have to fork out more for their TV licence as the cost rises to £154.50 from April 1.
Dozens of people have complained about the price hike on Twitter, saying that the licence already costs too much and asking if it is now time to 'scrap' the system.//
https:/ /www.da ilymail .co.uk/ news/ar ticle-6 657467/ BBC-con firms-v iewers- pay-TV- licence -cost-r ises-15 4-50-Ap ril-1.h tml
Is it time to scrap the system?
Dozens of people have complained about the price hike on Twitter, saying that the licence already costs too much and asking if it is now time to 'scrap' the system.//
https:/
Is it time to scrap the system?
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No best answer has yet been selected by naomi24. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I admit the system is anachronistic but it seems to work. And it’s cheap. And the main reason some don’t seem to like it is because they’re forced to pay it.
As for the BBC being biased I’ve always thought that people think that because compared to the right wing tabloids it probably seems a bit left wing :-)
As for the BBC being biased I’ve always thought that people think that because compared to the right wing tabloids it probably seems a bit left wing :-)
Did anyone ever NOT complain about a fee rise for anything? No one likes that.
A few years ago the government, in what seemed nothing more than an act of spite, made the BBC pay for the over 75s out of the licence fee and no longer out of tax. That had a huge impact. Hopefully that will be reversed some time.
A few years ago the government, in what seemed nothing more than an act of spite, made the BBC pay for the over 75s out of the licence fee and no longer out of tax. That had a huge impact. Hopefully that will be reversed some time.
"I admit the system is anachronistic but it seems to work. And it’s cheap."
But it doesn't work - not properly anyway. In 2016-17 some 185,000 people had action taken against them for not having a licence. One hundred and forty thousand were prosecuted in the criminal courts and 102,000 were convicted and fined. Ninety of them finished up in prison for non-payment of fines and three quarters of those charged were women. No organisation should have the option of taking a customer to the criminal court - from where they may eventually end up in custody - for what is essentially a civil debt. And of course for each one prosecuted you can bet there were probably ten more not detected.
Calling it a "licence" is disingenuous. It is simply a way of funding the State broadcasting organisation by forcing those who want to watch other broadcasters' output (and not want to watch the BBC) pay for it. It's like having to pay for the Times to be published when you only want to read the Sun and the Mirror. If the State wants to run a broadcasting service it should be funded from general taxation but personally I don't think the State has any business running a broadcasting organisation. It should be a subscription service then people can choose to buy it or not.
But it doesn't work - not properly anyway. In 2016-17 some 185,000 people had action taken against them for not having a licence. One hundred and forty thousand were prosecuted in the criminal courts and 102,000 were convicted and fined. Ninety of them finished up in prison for non-payment of fines and three quarters of those charged were women. No organisation should have the option of taking a customer to the criminal court - from where they may eventually end up in custody - for what is essentially a civil debt. And of course for each one prosecuted you can bet there were probably ten more not detected.
Calling it a "licence" is disingenuous. It is simply a way of funding the State broadcasting organisation by forcing those who want to watch other broadcasters' output (and not want to watch the BBC) pay for it. It's like having to pay for the Times to be published when you only want to read the Sun and the Mirror. If the State wants to run a broadcasting service it should be funded from general taxation but personally I don't think the State has any business running a broadcasting organisation. It should be a subscription service then people can choose to buy it or not.