Tories to blame over free TV licences row

LINDY Mcdowell (Life, July 11) has got it wrong: it is not the BBC which has withdrawn “free” TV licences for the over-75s, it’s the Conservative Government.

The BBC supplied the licences and the taxpayer paid for them as part of a benefits package for older people.

Now the Government has decided not to pay for these, but pass the cost to the BBC and let it take the blame.

If the BBC provides free licences — often to people who can easily afford them — it will have to make considerable cutbacks in its output, so we’ll all miss out.

Stop blaming the BBC, it was not its decision.

CHRISTINE WILSON Newtownabbey, Co Antrim

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