BBC attempts to 'save its hide' and comes up with 'political' way at engineering funds
The BBC has been slammed for using "political opportunism" to raise more funds.
The BBC has been accused of being “opportunistic” and coming up with a “political” way to “save its hide”.
In April, the cost of a TV licence will rise by £10.50 per year to £169.50. The BBC funds a free licence for households where those over 75 receive the means-tested pension credit.
BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, said that the broadcaster was open to “reform and making the licence fee “more progressive”.
This hinted that the fee should be means-tested, which would force wealthier Brits to pay more than the poor.
It has caused an uproar and a former BBC News producer has hit back at the idea, saying it is “opportunistic”.
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David Keighley told GB News: “I think it’s nonsense, it’s political opportunism. It’s rather interesting the timing of this - just as Labour is expected to be elected, up comes the director general of the BBC with the message: ‘Let’s cane the rich.’
“I think underneath that there are other objections. How on earth would this be administered? There’s already a huge bureaucracy behind the licence fee. The BBC will have to find out who is rich and who is not. How they’ll do that I don’t know.
“It’s a non-flyer and it’s the BBC, once again, trying to save its own hide and coming up with a political opportunist way of doing things.”
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Former BBC executive Roger Bolton, also appearing on GB News, disagreed and said: “You could take the view that everyone should pay the same for everything, but then the rich do rather well and the poor do rather badly.
“If you’re talking about a public service, you’re trying to create something for everybody regardless of how rich or poor they are. The rich will always have access, they can do anything. But what about those who aren’t rich? Are they do be denied these services?
“In principle, the idea that the better off should pay more than the worse off for a national service is reasonable. That’s our approach to tax. I think it’s more complicated in practise.”
