Boris Johnson is set to decriminalise non-payment of BBC licence fee after slamming it as ‘tax’ in election campaign
BORIS Johnson is taking on the BBC by putting in place plans to decriminalise non-payment of the licence fee which he has branded a tax.
The Prime Minister has now tasked his closest aides with drawing up a full-scale review of the much-hated mandatory £154.50 charge.
And he is even looking into consulting on whether or not people who do not pay up for watching TV or the BBC’s iPlayer service should be prosecuted.
The move comes after Downing Street refused to appear on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme due to what they believe is its pro-Remain bias.
Last financial year, 25.8 million households had TV licences bringing in £3.6 billion to the BBC.
A review may recommend replacing the existing criminal sanctions for non-payment of the TV licence fee with a civil system of fines, reports The Telegraph.
In the run-up to last week’s General Election, Mr Johnson said he was “looking at” abolishing the BBC licence fee altogether.
No. 10 boycotts Radio 4 over what it sees as election bias
Downing Streert has boyocotted Radio 4’s flagship Today programme over what it sees as BBC election bias, claim reports.
No. 10 is said to have pulled Ministers from Saturday’s show and intends to ‘withdraw engagement’ from future broadcasts.
The stand-off comes after presenter Andrew Neil blasted Boris Johnson on air for failing to agree to be interviewed by him.
A Tory source told the Mail on Sunday: “‘The BBC speaks to a pro-Remain metropolitan bubble in Islington, not the real world represented by Wakefield and Workington.
“There has been a failure by senior management at the BBC, and we expect them to launch an internal review of their performance.”
The BBC angrily denies the allegations of bias. Senior figures in the Corporation describe the claims as ‘trumped up’
He said that while the Tories were currently “not planning to get rid of all TV licence fees”, the current system “bears reflection”.
“I think that the system of funding by what is effectively a general tax, isn’t it, everybody has a TV, it bears reflection – let me put it that way,” he said.
At the moment anyone watching TV live or on iPlayer or ITV Player has to pay for a licence to do so.
Telly fans used to be able to watch their favourite shows on BBC iPlayer for free but since 2016 the Government closed the loophole.
How to watch TV legally without paying for a licence
IN the UK, any household watching or recording live television must hold a TV licence.
In recent years, this has been extended to include BBC programmes on iPlayer, whether they are live, catch up or on demand. But does everyone really need a licence? Here’s the lowdown on how to avoid paying – legally.
On demand TV – like catch-up TV and on demand previews – which are available through services like ITV Player , All4 , My5 , BT Vision/BT TV , Virgin Media , Sky Go , Now TV, Apple TV, Chromecast , Roku and Amazon Fire TV
On demand movies – from services like Sky, Virgin Media, BT Vision, Netflix and Amazon Instant Video
Recorded films and programmes– either via DVD or Blu-ray, or downloaded from the internet
YouTube – On demand video clips through services like YouTube
Now, you have to pay the annual fee if you’re watching live TV or the BBC catch-up service on any device.
But more and more Brits are taking to subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime where they pay by the month instead, for a different set of shows.
Almost 3.5million Brits cancelled their TV licence fee between 2014 and 2018 — a rate of almost one million a year.
The BBC has already announced that all over 75s (3.7million pensioners) will have to pay for their licences from 2020 onwards – when they currently get it for free.
The current royal charter – which sets out the governance of the BBC – runs until December 2027.
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A BBC spokesman said: “The government has already commissioned a QC to take an in-depth look at this matter and he found that ‘the current system of criminal deterrence and prosecution should be maintained’ and that it is fair and value for money to licence fee payers.
“The review also found that non-payment cases accounted for ‘a minute fraction’ – only 0.3 per cent- of court time.
“Decriminalisation could also mean we have at least £200 million less to spend on programmes and services our audiences love.”