Thread by @joemyerscough

VERY IMPORTANT THREAD: Ok, I know this sounds dull, but I want to talk about TV licenses. If you enjoy any BBC services whatsoever, this affects you!

In 2001, Chancellor Gordon Brown (remember him) introduced free TV licenses for the over 75s. Great idea! Many older people are on low incomes and yet TV remains an important source of entertainment and companionship.

Then last year, Theresa May decided to scrap the scheme. Fuck the pensioners, she said (I’m paraphrasing here), make them pay for their own licenses. OR BETTER STILL… make the BBC pay!

Why should we? Said the BBC. This was your idea in the first place! Tough shit, said the Tories. (again paraphrasing)

So now the BBC are caught in a trap. Either they refuse to pay for the licenses and look like the bad guys (and receive a torrent of abuse from the tabloids).

Or they agree to foot the bill. Hooray for Auntie Beeb! BUT THIS WILL COST THEM the equivalent of £745m a year… roughly 20% of their budget!

To put it another way. This is the amount of money they spend on BBC Two, BBC Three, the BBC News Channel, CBBC and CBeebies put together!!

You are entitled to your own opinion on this, but personally I don’t want to see those channels disappear because of Tory cuts that have nothing to do with the BBC.

Of course, the BBC could choose to cut something else… but they’ll have to cut a LOT. If they scrapped Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 3, Radio 5Live, BBC Local Radio, 6music and all their other radio stations, this still wouldn’t cover it.

If they scrapped all their TV sport, drama, entertainment and comedy programmes, they might just have enough. But as much as I love Homes Under The Hammer, I don’t think it can fill their entire primetime schedule.

I would love to see the government continue to fund TV licenses for the over 75s…. but if they refuse, I don’t think the BBC should bear this burden. Most over 75s are perfectly capable of paying, in fact, many have larger disposable incomes than their children or grandchildren.

Plus over 75s make up a HUGE proportion of BBC TV viewers, the average age of a BBC One viewer is 61 so younger people (many of whom have less cash) will be footing the bill for the elderly.

And we all know that services aimed at younger and poorly represented audiences will suffer the most from any cuts.

The BBC are having a public consultation on the subject until 12th February, so if you feel strongly about this, please let them know what you think… bbc.com/yoursay

Please remember that pensioners will be responding to this in droves, teenagers won’t be. If you’re in a position to change that, please do.

If you think the BBC should pay for the licenses, that’s your opinion… but at a time when we need investment in high-quality British-made programmes and world-class news services more than ever, is cutting the BBC budget by 20% really a good idea?

REMEMBER TO TELL THE BBC WHAT YOU THINK HERE.... bbc.com/yoursay

Or why not sign the @ageukcampaigns petition asking the government to reconsider... ageuk.org.uk/our-impact/cam…

NB: Fans of spelling might have noticed that licences should be spelt with a ‘c’ rather than an ‘s’ throughout. Sorry.