The Conservative Party has never been the greatest of friends with the BBC and has long held the view that it is over paid, over staffed and all together to big for it’s boots. In among his budget cuts last year was a not too subtle shift of responsibility for paying for free TV licences from the Government to the BBC. Although it is phased across several years, in the long run it amounts to a cut to the BBC of £700 million a year, equal to ten percent of it total butget. Ouch !
In response the Beeb has come up with a great idea for a new comedy series. Modelled on the very successful charity fund-raiser “Children in need” . Each week an audience of wealthy pensioners who are over 75 years old will be asked, begged, shamed or cajoled into paying their £145.50 annual licence fee instead of getting it for free.
Sir Michael Parkinson, a former Older People’s Tsar, has been asked to headline the first show because of his recent expertise at selling funeral plans to pensioners.
It is hoped that Episode two may feature Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Cliff Richard and Dame Shirley Bassey, providing the BBC can persuade them to come back to this country from their tax havens. Of course they don’t have to pay the licence fee themselves as they are tax exiles. They have been asked to sing a spirited rendition of “Money, money, money” .
Negotiations are rumoured to be taking place with the ever popular Ken Dodd, because of his extensive experience of the British tax system, but the stumbling block may be he reluctance to give up his own free TV licence.
The whole series is still in the planning stage at present, but a BBC spokesman said they are hoping to raise many millions of pounds this way, otherwise they have to reduce some of the huge fees they pay to their star acts .
Post Script :-
Inspired by the BBCs response the Chancellor is now thinking of passing responsibility for the Winter Fuel Allowance to the energy companies.
I do not know where this group of tales will end? Will they be fairy tales, fiction, or factual? When will the politicians of Westminister, and Holyrood, admit we as a society cannot afford everything we wish for: Then tax us as individuals directly, or in plain language by a tax system, that allows us to make a choice of whether we support, the actual service being proposed was being subscribed by each of us as an individual. We all ready have VAT and National insurance and earning related tax, do we not. Why now all these proposed other indirect taxation solutions Who would support the BBC if they have to finance the funding of notifications of the actual licence fee, prosecution costs if advisable, who would pay and support all the administration costs, and how would the TV/Radio services be provided by independent authorities, and the National bodies such as the BBC.
This also to some extent applies indirectly to the NHS and health providers- insurance companies.
It is a difficult programme, and a thorny problem.
Relating to the BBC, and its current programmes recorded or live, political, factual, and idealogical, present to my beliefs, on certain occasions are not balanced, and under certain conditions I would consider of a bias nature. maybe the board of governors of the BBC may need to have an ethical policy, when considered on the whole as drama and total input of all programmes being broadcast can be strongly bias, and not so neutral. I realise we as a nation have through the BBC World Service, especially the radio service have generally broadcast facts which promote the beliefs and ethos of the UK, which in past days may have been bias in promoting the standards of the UK within the WEstern World/American/European ideals as we know them, for peace and harmony living together as one global society.
This brings most of the English speaking peoples of the world where ever they are Europe/Asia/ The America’s/ Canada/ Australasia/Polyanesia/Africa/ Asia Minor sometimes into conflict, as they discuss and debate world problems, in a common tongue. Assuming the BBC World Service is broadcast in English, or the local language of the country concerned assuming the reporting is concerning the British way of life-lifestyle, and not the politics of the actual country/continent being broadcast too?
Is this World SErvice of the BBC TV and Radio which may be funded by government central funds? also to be supported by the British Taxpayer Direct, within the licence fee?? Who pays for what and how is that achieved, without the input of a central taxation system???