Probe into axing TV licence fee starts soon, says Nadine
NADINE Dorries has warned the BBC that an extensive review is imminent as she again attacked licence fee funding.
And the Culture Secretary raised eyebrows with her admission that she shared her Netflix password with four other households across the UK.
Ms Dorries told MPs she anticipated the review of the BBC’s funding model to begin “considerably before the summer recess” in July.
She added: “We’ve come to a point where discussion about the future funding of the BBC is imperative.
“So, rather than wait until 2027, I’m going to announce very shortly we’re going to start the review of the BBC licence fee and how it’s going to be funded. I anticipate it will take about six months and I want to get it started as soon as possible.”
Ms Dorries, 64, added: “I am completely hands off as to what will happen in that review.” Asked for her view on the licence fee, which she has frozen at £159 for the next two years, Ms Dorries said: “The licence fee is an unfair method of funding. “When we only had a few channels, I’m sure it was the right model. We are at a point where we have to wake up and smell the coffee and realise times are changing rapidly in broadcasting.
“It’s time for a more effective, a more modern and fair way of funding the BBC. What that is, I don’t have an opinion on.”
She was also questioned about the Government’s decision to sell off Channel 4, which has been publicly owned since its creation in 1982.
Shouting
In a likely reference to reports that C4 host Jon Snow shouted “F*** the Tories” at Glastonbury festival in 2017, she said: “I am not going to justify a news programme whose anchor went out shouting obscenities about the Conservative party.”
Ms Dorries also described the current system for Netflix subscribers as “incredibly generous”. She said: “My mum has access to my account, the kids do. I have Netflix but there are four other people who can use my Netflix account in different parts of the country.Am I not supposed to do that?”
Netflix is taking the step of cracking down on password sharing after losing 300,000 subscribers. People may soon have to pay extra to share.
Rebecca Ryan, Campaign Director of Defund the BBC, said: “If the BBC wants to survive into the next decade and beyond it must stop bullying reluctant Brits and find a willing, paying global audience.”
A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC is the most used media brand in the UK. Our investment in the creative economy supports over 50,000 jobs and 90 per cent of the licence fee is spent in Britain.”