Car Boot

Defund the BBC NOW.

I was examining the great leader of the BBC, Lord Hall. Not exactly renowned for his consistency of thought. One minute, according to the BBC toff, the BBC is strong and stable. The next it's in a funding crisis and services must be cut. Can we believe ANYTHING the BBC tells us?

Why has the BBC gone from a "strong deal" and "financially stable" in 2015 to a funding crisis and an unprecedented closure of services if no changes to the over 75s free licences were made (and this was before Covid 19) in 2020?

It's seems the only ones still panicking about Brexit are the wealthy middle classes - at a loss to explain why the sky hasn't fallen in after we voted to Leave (as many of them truly believed that it would) and desperate to inform us that it will happen imminently. Brexit is now just a middle class anxiety. Working class people are intensely relaxed about Brexit and have moved on.

The rich face paying more to watch TV: BBC licence fee could be replaced by means-tested 'household tax', says Lord Tony Hall as he prepares to step down as director-general https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8669521/BBC-licence-fee-replaced-means-tested-household-tax.html "Speaking on Radio 4's The Media Show, he described the attempts by Government to get the BBC to handle the issue as 'nuclear', as he was forced to choose between charging pensioners the licence fee and making huge cuts to services. 'I thought about resigning, but at that moment I thought you've got to get in there and try to stop this or ameliorate what they are proposing to do,' he told the BBC's media editor Amol Rajan." Very strange that Lord Hall has said now that he thought about resigning when at the time he was very triumphant that he had struck a strong deal with the government, which gave the BBC financial stability. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/07/tony-hall-licence-fee-deal-bbc-dwp-george-osborne Those very wealthy historical revisionists at the very top of the BBC - have they ever told the truth about anything? Lord Hall, when BBC Director General, bitterly opposed a more progressive licence fee and is only calling for it now that he has left the position. Defund these rich BBC parasites.

Why did I supposedly believe an entirely fabricated story? I did think that BBC bosses ('rooms full of very wealthy, middle class white men panicking that someone is going to think that they are racist') decided that middle class flag waving anthems should be performed as orchestral versions with no singing. I never thought these anthems would be banned by the BBC. It's very surreal to see support for the orchestral versions coming from the BBC Director General, Baron Hall of Birkenhead (Commander of the British Empire) and funded by a compulsory 'tithe' under a Royal Charter – arguing that the BBC had come to the right conclusion on this. This is the same man, the leader of YOUR BBC, who stated that the BBC taking on paying the TV Licences of the over 75's was "a strong deal for the BBC" which gave the BBC "financial stability". How can anyone trust the BBC to tell the truth about anything?

The very middle class establishment BBC demonstrates yet again just how out of touch it truly is. Working class people don't care about Rule Britannia or The Proms. They do care about funding an establishment elite who The Proms is for.

I wonder if the BBC TV Licensing's use of wide ranging threats and false claims against non customer's have been going on for such a long time now that people have become accustomed to them? We should judge the methods of TV Licensing by rational, modern, 2020 moral standards - NOT out of date 1950 BBC standards.

"As long as this property remains unlicensed, our investigation will continue. If you fail to get in touch, you risk prosecution and a fine of up to £1000, plus any legal costs and/or compensation you may be ordered to pay" There is no legal requirement for non customers to get in touch with TV Licensing, a BBC trademark, for any reason. A response is entirely optional - but the wording of the letter implies that a harsh legal punishment will follow if a non customer does not do as instructed. I don't see how anybody could see such a misleading and threatening approach being used by the state broadcaster as being acceptable.

Below is a genuine letter that the BBC, under its trademark TV Licensing, has sent out to non customers. These letters threaten non customers with prosecution and a fine unless they take a particular action. Any response from a non customer is entirely optional - but the BBC uses threats, coercion and deception to mislead non customers into believing that they must cooperate or face a harsh legal penalty. Vulnerable and disadvantaged non customers have been frightened into purchasing a TV licence even when they did not require one. What type of organisation seeks to mislead and frighten the public in such a way? The BBC.

What exactly in the article about not requiring a BBC TV Licence do you disagree with? Do you believe that the BBC, under its trademark TV Licensing, has the right to pretend that unlicensed households are somehow answerable to it when it has long been officially and legally established that they are not? TV Licensing do not have any legal authority to instruct non customers to do anything, and not doing what TV Licensing demands has no legitimate escalation in law. But the BBC sends out letters and enforcement officers who give the opposite impression - that not doing as TV Licensing requires can lead to a criminal record and large fine. Vulnerable and disadvantaged people have been know to pay up just to get the BBC off their back. And they will send the boys round anyway for doorstep intimidation, demanding to be let inside the property to look around, demanding money with menaces. It's unbelievable that such Victorian methods are still being used to squeeze people into paying for the BBC. But then the BBC is a very out of date organisation. Defund the BBC.

The BBC, under its trademark, drags hundreds of thousands of the poorest people in society to court every single year. Fining them. Giving them a criminal conviction. Sometimes jailing them. All for the non payment of a BBC TV licence fee to watch tv. The under 30s, who tend not to watch any BBC content, are well aware that this funding model is outdated, cruel and morally wrong. The only people who really defend the BBC TV Licence fee are those who tend to be middle aged, middle class, wealthy and very, very out of touch with the 21st Century.

Excellent post. Have you noticed that it has been conveniently ignored by those who support the BBC TV Licence fee?

The BBC must stop pretending that unlicensed households are somehow answerable to TV Licensing (a BBC trademark) when it has long been officially and legally established that they are not. BBC TV Licensing in their enforcement activities do not have any legal authority to instruct non customers to do anything, and not doing what they ask has no legitimate escalation in law - despite what their increasingly threatening and intimidating letters warn if non customers do not comply with their instructions when they demand money with menaces. The BBC is fit for the 1920s, not the 2020s.

Brexit is very much a middle class anxiety. Working class people moved on from Brexit long ago.

The privately educated, Oxford graduate BBC Director General Tony Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead to you and me, has never stated that he was putting a 'positive spin' on the deal. It is simply your interpretation. He is paid £450,000 per year and is a former Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. He knows a thing or two about negotiating deals. I don't presume that he is an incompetent weakling who rolls over when under pressure - as you seem to portray. In fact, I think he is very much the opposite. He is the establishment, a BBC Baron, and that's why he was put in charge of the BBC. Perhaps one day you might champion the vulnerable and disadvantaged, such as those persecuted by the BBC for being poor? Especially women in poverty? Let's not defend the rich, privileged establishment - such as the BBC and the EU. They are not the ones that need defending.

I stated that more and more people are cancelling their BBC TV Licence because the figures show exactly that. https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-licences-facts-and-figures-AB18 How many TV Licences are in force in the UK? Financial year 2018/19..........25,752,560 Financial year 2017/18..........25,836,495 There is a steady downward trend. This is with the number of households in the UK rising. Do you struggle to do the barest research on a topic before making an innacurate accusation?

Incorrect. Tony Hall, BBC Director General, stated when the deal with the government was made for the BBC to fund TV Licences for the over 75s in return for annual increases to the TV Licence and the inclusion of the iPlayer in the Licence fee: “I think we have a deal here which is a strong deal for the BBC. It gives us financial stability.” The BBC chief also said: “The government’s decision here to put the cost of the over-75s on us has been more than matched by the deal coming back for the BBC." https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/07/tony-hall-licence-fee-deal-bbc-dwp-george-osborne The BBC was eager to accept the deal, but later reneged. The government kept to its side of the funding deal, the BBC did not. The blame lays entirely with the untrustworthy, greedy BBC.

I don't watch, read or listen to BBC content. I don't need to be indoctrinated with the viewpoint of the privileged, upper middle class, privately educated, predominantly male establishment that the BBC represents.

UK total number of cancelled licences in force in 2018/19* April 2018 75,021 May 2018 67,716 June 2018 67,604 July 2018 78,753 August 2018 73,367 September 2018 73,645 October 2018 82,023 November 2018 75,381 December 2018 77,477 January 2019 75,392 February 2019 73,991 March 2019 73,970 * TV Licensing management information terms some cancellations as expired, depending on the circumstances of the cancellation, and these are not reported as cancelled licences. These figures do not include licences cancelled for customers aged 74 when they turn 75 because these fall within the Over 75 free licences category. Additionally, figures may be re-stated following end of financial year audits and therefore figures released previously under the Freedom of Information Act are subject to revision. https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-licences-facts-and-figures-AB18 More and more people like you are cancelling their BBC TV licence every single month. Defund the BBC.

You seem to want the armed forces to be independent of government, independent of the control of a civilian political leadership. This is usually called a military dictatorship. No thank you.

Does a customer of NPower get enforcement officers from British Gas calling uninvited at their door demanding to enter their home to check if they are receiving a British Gas supply? Does a customer of Yorkshire Water get enforcement officers from Thames Water calling uninvited at their door demanding to enter their home to check if they are receiving a Thames Water supply? Does a customer of Vodafone get enforcement officers from BT calling uninvited at their door demanding to enter their home to check if they are receiving the BT network? Does a customer of Sheffield City Council get enforcement officers from Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council calling uninvited at their door demanding to enter their home to check if they are receiving any council services from Barnsley Council? Of course not. But the out of touch, out of date regressive BBC targets non customers in this way for intimidation, threats and demands for money with menaces.

The BBC wants nan's pension. Greedy vultures. Defund the BBC.

The voice of the upper middle class establishment, the BBC, and it's privileged supporters demand that we pay their way. But the current funding model, reliant upon an undemocratic, out of date regressive system of taxation designed to hurt the poorest in society, is broken.

All 4 includes the facility to watch live television, for which you need a valid BBC TV licence. You don't need a licence if you just download (stream) non live content. Itv Hub includes the facility to watch live television, for which you need a valid BBC TV licence. You don't need a licence if you just download (stream) non live content. BBC iPlayer includes the facility to watch live television, for which you need a valid BBC TV licence. Unlike it's commercials rivals, you also need a valid BBC TV licence to just download (stream) non live BBC content.