TV licence thread

[Cyclone 10]

1 hour ago, max said:

Wouldn't it make more sense for "younger people" to fight for the same benefits that older people enjoy? Rather than have a race to the bottom look at ways to persuade governments and employers to give you cheaper buses fares, cheaper housing, more stable jobs, higher incomes, etc? The problem is not what happened in the past but what the latest generations are allowing commercial interests to do to them.

 

People are constantly blaming the baby boomers for what's happening now but the real culprits are those who sold out workers' rights, that is the generation after the baby boomers. We used to have trades unions helping to protect our rights, ensuring job security and annual cost of living rises to enable us to keep up with inflation. Once people bought into trickle down economics and believed that employers were looking after their workforce that's when control of our futures slipped out of our grasp.

Society doesn't have a magic money tree though, someone has to pay for bus companies to run, they don't do it out of charity.

 

It's nothing to do with the past, but it's to do with the current.

[zach 234]

13 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

It doesn't work like that and you know it. 

 

The situation would be if the law stated that everyone must pay £150 before they are allowed to have a internet connection irrelevant of what supplier they choose.

 

The law and the licence is for ANY broadcast television.

And that imo, is where the issue lies.

 

It was made law that the BBC is paid even if you don't use their service. You don't see a problem with that?

 

As I said, I do pay as I use the BBC but having to pay if you don't use them is just wrong and there must be a way that's fair for everyone.

[ECCOnoob 1,030]

31 minutes ago, zach said:

And that imo, is where the issue lies.

 

It was made law that the BBC is paid even if you don't use their service. You don't see a problem with that?

 

As I said, I do pay as I use the BBC but having to pay if you don't use them is just wrong and there must be a way that's fair for everyone.

It was made law that anyone receiving broadcast television from any source pays a licence to receive it.

 

What the government chooses to do with the revenue is their decision.  They choose to fund the BBC with it as they are a state broadcaster.   I say again, if the BBC was closed down tomorrow do you think the government would suddenly scrap the licence fee or would they just divert the money somewhere else?

[Lockdoctor 10]

28 minutes ago, zach said:

And that imo, is where the issue lies.

 

It was made law that the BBC is paid even if you don't use their service. You don't see a problem with that?

 

As I said, I do pay as I use the BBC but having to pay if you don't use them is just wrong and there must be a way that's fair for everyone.

The difference between the BBC and the other television providers is that the BBC is our country's state/ national broadcaster.  There are obvious reasons why countries have state broadcasters.  It's only fair that a state broadcaster in funded by the Government from taxpayers money.  We all have to pay taxes which fund public services regardless of whether individual taxpayers use the service they help to fund.  The television licence is a form of tax.  There is an argument that in this day in age in a free country like the UK there is no need for a state broadcaster, but I personally think it's good having a state broadcaster.  The BBC is the best media outlet by a country mile for covering events such as the recent D-Day commemorations.

[I1L2T3 10]

13 hours ago, max said:

Wouldn't it make more sense for "younger people" to fight for the same benefits that older people enjoy? Rather than have a race to the bottom look at ways to persuade governments and employers to give you cheaper buses fares, cheaper housing, more stable jobs, higher incomes, etc? The problem is not what happened in the past but what the latest generations are allowing commercial interests to do to them.

 

People are constantly blaming the baby boomers for what's happening now but the real culprits are those who sold out workers' rights, that is the generation after the baby boomers. We used to have trades unions helping to protect our rights, ensuring job security and annual cost of living rises to enable us to keep up with inflation. Once people bought into trickle down economics and believed that employers were looking after their workforce that's when control of our futures slipped out of our grasp.

The baby boomers have taken what was handed to them on a plate. No complaints there. It isn’t their fault but that ship has sailed.

 

What a large proportion of them (but not all of course) has failed to do is recognise their advantage and good fortune. They’ve voted to make the economy weaker and they have to recognise the consequences of that. They have to realise that the rest of society can’t afford to go on reinforcing and consolidating certain advantages.

 

IMO this is just the first thing to give as we have to work out ways to fund the essentials like proper social care and protecting the basic pension. 

Edited June 17, 2019 by I1L2T3

[I1L2T3 10]

8 minutes ago, Lockdoctor said:

The difference between the BBC and the other television providers is that the BBC is our country's state/ national broadcaster.  There are obvious reasons why countries have state broadcasters.  It's only fair that a state broadcaster in funded by the Government from taxpayers money.  We all have to pay taxes which fund public services regardless of whether individual taxpayers use the service they help to fund.  The television licence is a form of tax.  There is an argument that in this day in age in a free country like the UK there is no need for a state broadcaster, but I personally think it's good having a state broadcaster.  The BBC is the best media outlet by a country mile for covering events such as the recent D-Day commemorations.

Well, there’s an argument that if people have the means to pay then the TV/radio licence is a good thing. 

 

If people don’t have the means to pay then sustaining a case for it gets more difficult. Given a choice of £15-20 a month on Netflix/Amazon Prime versus £13 a month on the BBC, if families had the choice quite honestly what would a big proportion of them choose. 

[JamesR123 0]

18 hours ago, Car Boot said:

Oh no!

 

The BBC TV licence fee gravy train is under attack!

 

Emergency!

 

How will all those wealthy BBC people survive if the poor aren't forced by threat of a criminal record and large fine to fund their lavish lifestyles?

 

Lets take away the right to vote from anyone who opposes the BBC!

 

SUPPORT THE PENSIONERS. STOP THE GREEDY BBC VULTURES - BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

Have you really not bothered to understand the situation at all?

 

[Annie Bynnol 612]

7 minutes ago, I1L2T3 said:

The baby boomers have taken what was handed to them on a plate. No complaints there. It isn’t their fault but that ship has sailed.

 

What a large proportion of them (but not all of course) has failed to do is recognise their advantage and good fortune. They’ve voted to make the economy weaker and they have to recognise the consequences of that. They have to realise that the rest of society can’t afford to go on reinforcing and consolidating certain advantages.

 

IMO this is just the first thing to give as we have to work out ways to fund the essentials like proper social care and protecting the basic pension. 

What and to whom were things handed to on a plate?

It certainly isn't the "baby boomers" who created pensions, education and health fo all but they were the ones who pushed back at Tory attempts to trim, reduce, backslide etc.

It was the baby boomers who voted in legislation on rights, on disability, on employment law, on access to health, education and law.

When you attend events aimed at protecting these rights, where is the next generation, or the next, or the next.

 

Protecting pensions, health and education is not about mass festival like rallies, the occaisional outpouring of twitter angst.

It is about not "falling out" about TV licenses, bus passes and winter heating- these have become the tools of successive Governments who measure success by how attractive we are to foreign investment- not the welfare of the country.

 

We should stop doing the Tory's industrial and commercial cronies jobs for them.

 

 

 

 

 

[alchresearch 214]

14 hours ago, I1L2T3 said:

The time has come for the older sections of the population who have voted disproportionately to make younger people poorer to take their share of the pain.

 

Younger people are losing their jobs so it’s honestly quite unbelievable that the older generation think they should be immune.

Do you have any examples of these, or are they just two sweeping generalisations?

[max 13]

1 hour ago, I1L2T3 said:

The baby boomers have taken what was handed to them on a plate. No complaints there. It isn’t their fault but that ship has sailed. 

The ship hasn't sailed, it's been sunk by commercial interests. If the younger generations don't feel it worth fighting for all the benefits that baby boomers have worked for then why try and take them away from those who did fight?

[Michael_W 11]

16 hours ago, I1L2T3 said:

The time has come for the older sections of the population who have voted disproportionately to make younger people poorer to take their share of the pain.

 

Younger people are losing their jobs so it’s honestly quite unbelievable that the older generation think they should be immune.

What a strange divisive attitude to take, if sections of society keep looking for fights inevitably they will happen, and which generation has not suffered job losses may I ask ? 

[melthebell 863]

4 hours ago, JamesR123 said:

Have you really not bothered to understand the situation at all?

 

LOL he never does, in his weird socialist topsy turvy world he seems to forget that the rich and middle class pensioners get this freebie, yet poorer working class people, both working (but only just making ends meet) and the unemployed are still forced to pay for it.