Beeb’s licence to print money

IMAGINE you were forced to buy this paper – and if you didn’t you would risk going to jail.

Sounds outrageous, doesn’t it? Luckily, you have freedom of choice and can buy any paper you like. (Obviously, none is as good as this…) But the same can’t be said of TV.

It is enshrined in law that if we have a TV we have to pay the licence fee to fund the BBC. Whether you watch it or not. Whether you like it or not.

Surely this archaic system has to go? In a country being hammered by taxes and facing an unprecedented cost of living crisis, the £159 fee seems like a kick up the aerial.

In an age of streaming and commercial broadcasters, the choice for viewers has never been so good. Why does the Beeb get to have a free ride? I’m not advocating getting rid of the BBC – it is a great broadcaster with world-beating output.

But why are we forced to pay for it? And why are we funding the huge salaries of BBC execs? The Beeb’s staff are twice as likely to have attended private school as the average Briton.

Every time talk of abolishing the licence fee is raised, a long line of luvvies and stars pop up to defend the “unique way the BBC is funded”. Of course they will defend it; many have grown stinking rich thanks to Auntie and her pockets stuffed with public cash.

Why wouldn’t Gary Lineker praise the corporation that pays him millions to introduce the football highlights.

The BBC’s income was £5.06billion in 2020/21. The licence fee accounted for 74% of that and £1.31bn came from commercial and other activities.

So it is capable of making money. And if it had ads or a subscription service it would still be rolling in cash.

Plenty to continue making its tedious dancing show, awful Saturday night quizzes and countless programmes where people buy junk to sell at auction.

And there would be one less bill for the rest of us to worry about.

To its credit, the Government has said it plans to abolish the licence fee completely in 2027.

It can’t come soon enough.