UK TO CUT BBC FUNDING BY FREEZING LICENSE-PAYER FEES

Mon 17 January 2022:

UK government on Monday announced freeze on British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) license fee. The government claimed that freeze on the license fee was aimed at providing relief to families from cost of living pressures. However, the Opposition alleged that the real motive behind the move was part of vendetta of right-wingers against the mediahouse.

The £159 ($217, 190 euros) annual tax, which is paid by every television set owner in the country, will be fixed for the next two years, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries informed parliament.

After that it will rise in line with inflation for four years, she said, saying the rising annual cost of the compulsory charge was hurting cash-strapped families.

The long-term future of the corporation should not depend on a system which criminalises non-payers, she added.

The move will create additional stress for the BBC’s management, already struggling to find new ways to keep the corporation afloat.

Last year, BBC chairman Richard Sharp issued a warning of “serious consequences for a poorly funded BBC.” He underlined that if the license fees did not keep pace with inflation, it would “leave a hole” in the corporation’s budget.

However, Boris Johnson’s government has apparently remained unconvinced by Sharp’s arguments, with one of Dorries’ ‘allies’ quoted by the Daily Mail as saying that “the days of state-run TV are over” and that there would be “no more license fee renewals as long as Boris is PM.”

But opposition parties linked the move to efforts to keep Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a job, by offering “red meat” to BBC critics, due to anger at lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.

Labour media spokeswoman Lucy Powell said monthly payments for the license fee were small change compared to proposed Tory annual tax increases and soaring energy bills totalling thousands of pounds.

“Is the license fee really at the heart of the cost of living crisis or is this really about their long-term vendetta against the BBC?” she asked

“It’s at the heart of Operation Red Meat to stop the prime minister becoming dead meat,” she added, referring to a proposed government fight-back plan of populist measures to boost Johnson’s standing.

The BBC has come under increasing criticism from right-wingers since Britain’s divisive Brexit referendum in 2016 for alleged political bias, and pushing a “woke”, London-centric liberal agenda.

However, the public service broadcaster, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and has editorial independence from the government, has been targeted by the political left.

Critics charged Dorries, a Johnson supporter who leaked details of the proposal on Twitter on Sunday night following a turbulent week for the prime minister, with “cultural vandalism,” accusing him of destroying a world-renowned British institution.

The licence fee supports television, radio, and online services, such as the popular iPlayer on-demand platform, as well as programming, most of which is commercially exported throughout the world.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent