BBC poll blow as 54% say it isn’t worth £159 fee
MORE than half of TV viewers think the BBC is not worth the £159 a year the licence fee costs.
Six in 10 back the Tories’ threat to axe the tax in five years, while 50% reckon the Corporation should fund itself through ads and subscriptions.
An exclusive Sunday Mirror poll by Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows 29% of voters think the Beeb is value for money, while 54% said it is not.
BBC boss Tim Davie said Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries’s decision to freeze the licence fee for two years means a £285million cut to programming. He is now working out what will have to go, adding: “Everything is on the agenda.”
Labour said that could mean losing events like the Commonwealth Games and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy
Powell said: “That coverage is now under threat because of the
Government’s ill-thought-out attack on BBC programming.”
She accused
PM Boris Johnson of launching a vendetta against the Beeb for reporting on his rule-busting No10 parties – using Ms Dorries as his “human shield”.
And Ms Powell added: “Does she really want to be known as the Secretary of State for Repeats?”
The BBC said: “We trust longstanding, independent research over results of a snap poll. That shows the licence fee remains the preferred way of funding the BBC.”
Other findings in our survey show more than eight in 10 are concerned about their ability to afford energy bills, with prices set to rocket.
More than a third blame Brexit for gaps on store shelves, while a quarter say the pandemic is the cause.
Labour leader Keir Starmer is the people’s choice for PM on 41%, nine points ahead of Mr Johnson.
Seven in 10 voters think Prince Andrew should lose his Duke of York title over sex allegations – which he vehemently denies – while 58% say police should not have to provide protection for Prince Harry in the UK. ■■Redfield & Wilton Strategies quizzed 1,500 adults online on Jan 19.