Comment on BBC licence fee is ‘regressive tax’, broadcaster’s former chair says
shish_mish@lemmy.world 7 months agoI agree with everything you said, and I do think the BBC is amazing. But for me and many people, the
reality is that it is just too expensive . I am on a very limited budged and simply can’t afford it.
I also don’t have any other subscriptions.
I wish they scrambled their signal and people could choose to subscribe for a month and then drop it
when they can’t afford it.
I should not be forced to pay for a service when I don’t want it. I haven’t owned a TV in over a decade.
Furthermore, I did ring them up and informed them of not needing a licence, and it worked for a while but then
they started with the threatening letters again, they are pretty nasty in tone, which I find appealing.
brewery@feddit.uk 7 months ago
It is horrible how they target those who haven’t paid even if they don’t have to. They should put a stop to that, especially given how much people are struggling.
I don’t think we should get into a trap of blaming things that cost us for being unaffordable but to be challenging why we are so poor compared to previous years. Austerity, big business and the lack of taxes on the rich are to blame for everyone suffering now. Also the B word hasn’t helped. Yes, there has been the Ukraine war and covid but other countries seem to doing much better in response.
The licence fee is extremely good value for money for what we get and once we lose it, it’s gone and will never come back. To get the same things we did from private companies would be ten times as much. BBC is £13 a month. To replace that you’d need netflix (with UHD and multiple users, which bbc offers is £17.99), Planet radio (3.99 although free with ads), News (depends on your flavour. Telegraph is 29.99, Guardian £14.99. Free options are available but are paid by ‘special interests’ wanting to direct your thinking and ads) and even more other services on top.
If you are not using it you should not be paying though, I definitely agree. There should be an assumption that you are not using it rather than you are choosing not to pay.