Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Scrap fee and pay like Netflix
I could go to jail and watch telly for free!
A MIGHTY 750,000-strong grey army is risking £1,000 fines and months in jail as they refuse to fork out for a BBC licence.
The rebels have withheld the £157.50 fee in an amazing show of people power.
The over-75s received a free TV licence for 20 years – until the BBC scrapped the concession last year.
New figures uncovered by the Sunday Mirror reveal the scale of the revolt as oldies fight Auntie, as the BBC is known.
If the 750,000 do not pay up the BBC will have a £117million black hole to fill.
And last night the battle lines hardened as campaigners and celebrities joined forces in a defiant stance.
OAPs lined up to vow they will not pay for “crap” shows – and the salaries of stars like Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman, who have earned up to £1.75million and £365,000 a year apiece.
If pensioners continue to hold out they could be taken to court, fined up to £1,000 – then jailed if they refuse to pay the penalty. Previous sentences typically ranged from three to six months. But the
KEITH Abendroth, 78, is refusing to pay on a point of principle.
He and his wife Greer, 75, ran a boarding kennels, cattery and pet cemetery before they retired.
Keith, formerly of Winchester, Hants, and now living in Campbeltown, Argyll and Bute, said: “I’m not prepared to pay it.
“It’s a terrible taxation and the BBC has decided we’ve got to all pay it again, while they’re paying Claudia Winkleman and Gary Lineker a fortune. The world’s mad. Nurses going through this pandemic get miniscule pay compared to those people.
“If they took me to court and said, ‘You’ve got two weeks in prison’ I could quite easily go to jail and watch TV for nothing. That’s the ludicrous thing – and I’d get three meals a day.
“It’s a ridiculous payment. The BBC should find another way of raising funds, as ITV and every other channel do. It was introduced as a benefit for OAPs, and we don’t get many these days. It’s time somebody stood up to the BBC.”