Alliance’s plan ‘to make £5bn’
A CALL has gone out to Chancellor Rishi Sunak to sell off parts of the BBC and also Channel 4 to ease the tax burden on Brits.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance claims its plan could generate up to £5billion in total – enough to boost the entire nation’s tax-free personal allowances by £300.
The group claims both stations “no longer fit into the 21st century broadcasting market”.
Members say parts of the public-funded BBC should be sold off, which could rake in £2bn alone.
And it reckons Channel 4 should be privatised and floated on the stock market, boosting the public’s coffers even further.
In a statement ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, the TPA, a right-wing pressure group, says: “We have called for the Chancellor to sell
Channel 4 and the majority of the BBC.
Output
“As Channel 4’s licence and the BBC’S mid-term reviews approach amid declining viewership and satisfaction rates, the research proposes the sale of Channel 4 and a significantly reduced BBC focused solely on public service output as a viable solution to taxpayer dissatisfaction with the broadcasters.
“The paper calls for the licence fee to be scrapped and the BBC to be cut down to one television channel,
radio station and online service.”
Last night a BBC spokeswoman said: “The BBC has a royal charter in place for a number of years and which sets out the scale and scope of its activities.”
And a Channel 4 spokesman said: “Channel 4 does not cost the taxpayer a penny.
“Commercially funded since launch, we have invested £12bn in the UK’S creative industries, making programmes that entertain, challenge and engage for every platform.”