Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
@RosamundUrwin
Aug 2, 2020 • 8 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
The BBC licence fee, a thread: the BBC ended the universal free licence fee for the over-75s yesterday – a major change that affects many vulnerable people - but guess what? The TV licensing website was down for most of the day. thetimes.co.uk/article/over-7…
The BBC says that it was "always planned" for the site to be down most of the day, but provided no evidence of this when I asked, and it seems rather odd (and cruel) to take the site down deliberately on a day when you introduce the biggest change to the licence fee in 20 years.
One of our brilliant readers, being very law-abiding, went on the site late on Friday night to try to pay, claims that the site said it would be back up by 10am on Saturday then. It was not.
Anyway, this reflects a broader point: the introduction of means-testing for this benefit is a mess. The BBC should not be a welfare body, that's not what it does. And they are forcing the elderly to do something - that for some will mean leaving the house - in a pandemic.
Additionally, no letters with the correct information have been sent out in advance so the elderly are going to get a letter (some in the coming week, some not until September) telling them they need to pay for something starting August 1.
To top it all off, if you ring the helpline, some vulnerable viewers will get told to send their bank statements as evidence that they receive pension credit, which charities warn leaves them at risk of identity theft thetimes.co.uk/article/over-7…
Of course, the real architect of this mess is George Osborne, who did a deal in 2015 putting the BBC in charge of a welfare benefit. A cynic suggested to me that the introduction of this scheme is such a mess that it seems deliberate - the BBC making a point to government.
Eligibility for still getting this benefit is based on if the person claims pension credit. Pension credit is hugely under-claimed. If this encourages more people to get a benefit to which they are entitled, good. But there will be v poor people who give up their TV as a result.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Rosamund Urwin

Rosamund Urwin Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @RosamundUrwin

Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
Oct 17, 2021
"We’re not considered to be human." I spoke to politicians including @jessphillips @TulipSiddiq @joswinson @julianknight15 @MayorofLondon about the abuse they and their colleagues receive online thetimes.co.uk/article/trolls…
@TulipSiddiq had her car window smashed last month. She says that she stopped reporting everything but the most extreme online abuse because she wants to focus on helping her constituents and it takes up so much time dealing with threats. thetimes.co.uk/article/target…
As chair of @CommonsDCMS @julianknight15 is often approached by colleagues about online abuse and it comes up often in the surgeries he runs for MPs. A new Tory MP had a picture of his front door posted online, as well as the address of his wife's work and his children's school
Read 13 tweets
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
May 14, 2021
A (depressing) thread about being a female journalist in 2021. Today my stalker escaped from his not-very-secure “secure” unit and has apparently come to London. Last time he turned up at my office.
It was a horrific experience and left me emotionally drained. He was on the run for days last time and afterwards my hair came out in clumps. Trying to do your job while always looking over your shoulder is exhausting.
His stalking started on twitter so since that time I’ve done less and less on here. Of course it’s one metric journalists are judged on - their social media following - but this site can be so horrific for both women and those from ethnic minorities that you fall behind.
Read 13 tweets
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
Mar 29, 2021
As England opens up a little today, I wanted to write about what it’s been like to have a baby who has only known lockdown. Obviously caring for a newborn can be tough at the best of times. This is not the best of times.
My son, Finn, was born in December. Apart from medical staff, he has only been held by four people. He has close family he has never met, including his paternal grandmother, two aunts and two uncles.
A friend calls babies born in the pandemic “coronials”; I’ve been thinking of them as “zoom babies”. I’ve wondered a lot if this will have a long-term impact on them. At 15 weeks, Finn has barely seen another child’s face.
Read 11 tweets
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
Dec 16, 2020
Pregnancy in the pandemic: a thread (1/ a lot). The NHS has finally changed its guidance to say women should be allowed to have their partner there 'at all times': scans, in labour ward from the start and not just for 'active labour'. I gave birth 8 days ago.
I found out I was pregnant with my first child on the day the UK went into 1st lockdown. Many people asked me how my pregnancy was going over the past few months. I’d say: “it’s not an easy time to be pregnant!” Most would reply: “it’s never an easy time!” Sure... but a pandemic?
I love the NHS. My doctor mother gave all her working life to it, my brother is now set to do the same. This is not a criticism of most of its staff who - long before Covid happened - have been people I championed in many of my columns.
Read 23 tweets
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
Dec 11, 2020
A thread on no deal Brexit. This came to mind as I’m currently trying to feed a newborn, but I was in India in 2016 when Modi scrapped the 2 largest banknotes. The news had a story of a baby who died after a hospital refused to accept his parents' money google.co.uk/amp/s/www.inde…
I know far too little about Indian politics to say much on that story, but the obvious point is there can be an enormous human cost of policy decisions. governments forget that at their peril. When ministers speak of “disruption” with no deal, what is the true human cost of that?
When I was briefly asked to cover no deal brexit for @thesundaytimes last year (a friend called me the “apocalypse and sheep farming correspondent”), what struck me was that risk. The granny who can’t get her medicine; the remote community where the baby formula doesn’t arrive.
Read 8 tweets
Rosamund Urwin Profile picture
Sep 27, 2020
Fair to say that Charles Moore as BBC chair will not go down well with the corporation's 21,000ish staff: "This will shatter morale. People will leave, thinking: I won’t stay working here under Thatcher’s vicar on earth."
thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/p…
A few extra thoughts. Early on, there was speculation it could be a tech boss to arm the BBC to take on Netflix etc. As one media source said: "You have to know what 4G and 5G are, and whether the 'Sounds' app is working - Moore won't."
In fact, he - like Dacre - is particularly untech-savvy. Though that does mean no worries about his Twitter account. He has only ever tweeted once: "Where there is discord, may I bring more of it."
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(