Free TV licences were introduced in 2000 funded by the then government. Cameron promised they would continue -then in 2015 told the BBC that they would continue, but the BBC would have to pay for it, just as, suddenly, they were told they had to pay for the World Service which had previously been funded by the FCO. It costs £750m to fund the TV licence for all over 75s, many of whom, like my 96 year old mother, are well able to afford to pay for it themselves, many being the happy generation on final salary pensions. It does not seem unreasonable that those who can afford to pay and who might well be happily paying for Netflix and Prime too, pay it, while those who can't afford it get the help they can and should receive. In all this I do think it should be remembered that this is a situation that was not originally of the BBC's making but for which they now get the flak.
Rebecca Singer ● 2306d