Action now on refugees
DESPERATE asylum seekers are now trying to enter Britain by crossing the Channel from Belgium.
The 50-mile journey is so dangerous it is only a matter of time before someone dies. Many making the crossing are young children whose families have fled war or political persecution.
The world’s conscience was jolted five years ago by the picture of three-year-old Alan Kurdi found dead on a Mediterranean beach.
Unless we act, we could soon witness a similar tragedy on our shores. And any tears of grief will be mixed with our shame.
The Government should accept the Immigration Act amendment by Labour’s Lord Dubs to allow unaccompanied child refugees entry to this country. And we must work with other countries to tackle people-smuggling.
If there was a safe and legal way to seek asylum, innocent people would not have to risk their lives and the traffickers would be driven out of business.
Around 26 million TV licences were in use across the UK last year, generating an annual income of £3.7billion for the BBC – around 75% of its total revenue.
It’s this money, gathered from all of us, that funds Strictly Come Dancing, the Today programme, the Olympics, 6 Music, Countryfile, local radio, The Archers, CBBC, EastEnders, Graham Norton, This Country, Match of the Day and Wimbledon, not to mention David Attenborough’s many landmark series and an impartial news service.
Of course there is so much more to what the BBC does, but the point is they have one clear aim to serve everyone by giving them a little, or a lot, of what they fancy. This justifies the licence fee and underscores the BBC’s position as a public service broadcaster.
For years now, an increasing number of political and media figures have argued that taxing the public is an outmoded way of funding an international media organisation. They are calling for the licence fee to be scrapped altogether and for the
BBC to be funded in a different way.
But what would it mean for the nation if the BBC was turned into a Netflix-type outfit, funded by subscription fees?