BBC licence fee should be voluntary... says Lineker!

( So he’ll need 11,327 of us to pay his £1.75m salary)

THE BBC licence fee should be voluntary, according to the broadcaster’s highest-paid star.

In an extraordinary intervention, Gary Lineker, who last year received £1.75 million from the corporation, claimed the tax was a ‘fundamental problem’ in need of reform.

The comments are likely to raise eyebrows as the ex-footballer has long faced criticism for his hefty pay packet – at a time when the BBC is embroiled in an equal pay battle and being forced to make millions in cuts.

The Match of the Day presenter earns nearly five times more than the highest-paid woman at the corporation, Claudia Winkleman, who was paid between £370,000 and £375,000 last year – although that does not include her role with Strictly Come Dancing, which is paid by a private company, BBC Studios.

In an astonishing interview with The Guardian, Lineker, 59, also suggested that those who choose to continue with the BBC licence – which costs £154.50 a year – are charged more money to subsidise elderly and poorer viewers.

‘You’re forced to pay it if you want a TV, and therefore it’s a tax,’ he said. ‘The public pay our salaries, so everyone is a target.

‘I would make the licence fee voluntary. I don’t know the logistics of how it would work.

‘You would lose some people, but at the same time you’d up the price a bit. It’s the price of a cup of coffee a week at the moment. If you put it up you could help older people, or those that can’t afford it.’

Despite a widespread backlash, Lineker has repeatedly defended his salary, claiming it is the ‘market rate’ for his industry and arguing that he actually gets paid less than pundits on Sky. Boris Johnson said last month he was ‘looking at’ scrapping the licence fee.

And Downing Street is considering whether the licence fee could be decriminalised, ending the corporation’s power to prosecute non-payers.

Lineker also addressed claims by critics that the BBC is biased. He said: ‘It’s really difficult for the BBC. They are the standard bearer and balance is difficult.

‘Both the Right wing and the Left wing complain like mad that the BBC are biased.

‘The truth is, the BBC is full of thousands of people with varying political views.

‘To say the BBC is fundamentally leftist, or fundamentally rightist, is wrong. It’s been a difficult time because of Brexit and people have been very tribal.’