The UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has revealed the extent of the Tory Government's plan to abolish the Licence Fee that pays for the BBC.
The decision to freeze the levy at £159 - despite spiralling inflation - until April 2024 and then potentially abolish it in 2027 has seen the Tories accused of being a "tin-pot dictatorship", reports MirrorOnline.
Ms Dorries' announcement was hinted at in a tweet from her on Sunday (January 16) and the details - including the real terms cut to the payment - worth around £3.2 billion to the BBC - was confirmed in an address to the House of Commons on Monday (January 17).
She also said the Licence Fee model will be subject to a consultation before 2027 - signalling it could be scrapped altogether after that date.
Ms Dorries faced claims the announcement was rushed out to distract from the 'partygate' row engulfing the Prime Minister as on rule-busting bashes at Downing Street.
She said: “ The BBC is a great national institution with a unique place in our cultural heritage. It broadcasts British values and identities all over the world and reaches hundreds of millions of people every day.
“But at a time when families are facing a sharp increase in their living costs we simply could not justify asking hard-working households to pay even more for their TV licence.
“This is a fair settlement for the BBC and for licence fee payers. The BBC must support people at a time when their finances are strained, make savings and efficiencies, and use the billions in public funding it receives to deliver for viewers, listeners and users.”
Lucy Powell, the Shadow Culture Secretary, said the Government had a "vendetta" against the BBC over its reporting of the drinking culture at No10 during lockdown.
“The Government’s decision on the future of the BBC makes it look like a 'tin-pot dictatorship'," she said.
“The impartiality of the BBC is crucial to trust in it. By explicitly linking the charter renewal to the BBC’s editorial decisions, the Government sounds more like a tin-pot dictatorship than a healthy democracy.”
Ms Dorries replied: “It is nobody’s intention to destroy the BBC. I completely agree with her, it is a beacon. But the BBC licence fee is not a small amount of money.
“It is also regressive. Whether you are getting by on the minimum wage or on a multimillion presenter’s salary, you cannot pay the same amount of money. That is not right."
Many Tory MPs have hit out at the move, which comes as a poll by Grassroots Conservatives said 40 per cent wanted Boris Johnson to resign over rule-breaking.
Conservative MP Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: the BBC "plays a fundamental role in our culture and demonstrates the richness of this country’s broadcasting landscape".
He added: “In order to preserve this institution for audiences, it is critical that the Government provides clarity on how future funding will be provided, given the current levels of broadband coverage which cast doubt on the success of a subscription model.
“An alternative source of funding must deliver the stability necessary to enable the corporation to compete effectively on a global stage.”
Meanwhile, BBC bosses have pledged to “continue to make a strong case to the Government for investing” in the corporation after the licence fee came under fire.
In a message sent to staff, director-general Tim Davie and chairman Richard Sharp said they “welcomed” debate and “look forward to engaging in a discussion about public service broadcasting in the UK and how best to fund it”.
In their internal message, Mr Davie and Mr Sharp reminded staff the licence fee is “fixed” until the end of 2027 but said what happens after that “is a matter for public discussion and debate”.
They continued: “At the moment the discussions about the future level of the licence fee for the rest of this Charter period are still ongoing, although we do expect them to conclude very soon.
“We will continue to make a strong case to the Government for investing in the BBC.
“There are very good reasons for investing in what the BBC can do for the British public, the UK creative industries, and the place of the UK in the world.
“This is the case that we’ll continue to make to the Government right until the last moment.”
However, the pair said “it is for the Government to set the licence fee at the level that they believe is appropriate”.
