Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘REVIVE FREE TV LICENCE’
Protesters tell new BBC boss to expect disruption
THE new head of the BBC has been urged to bring back free TV licences for over-75s as he starts his new job today.
Tim Davie succeeds Lord Tony Hall in the role of director-general – and campaigners last night called on him to work with the Government to thrash out a solution to the long-running free licences row.
Some 3.7 million pensioners were robbed of the lifeline a month ago and the
Silver Voices group has warned 87% of its members are ready to stop paying their £157.50-a-year fee in protest. Other disruptive protests planned by members include writing cheques in Cornish or Gaelic and “forgetting” to date or sign g cheques.
Its director Den Dennis Reed said: “Mr Davie will not want a campaig campaign of civil disobedience festering fe away and undermining underm the credibility of the licence system. “The militancy of senior citizens on this issue is growin growing all the time… We wi will ll not hesitate to esca escalate our action.” In 2017 the Conservatives made an election pledge to protect the benefit until 2022. But under a deal agreed in 2015, the BBC had already been handed responsibility for funding it from June 2020.
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC Board believes the fairest option is to help the poorest older pensioners. Around 1.5 million households could get free TV licences if someone is over 75 and receives Pension Credit.
“Critically, it is not the BBC making that judgment about poverty, it is the Government.”