Prominent Conservatives have launched an attack on the BBC, calling for the licence fee to be scrapped. The Mirror reports that they are seeking revenge over the corporation's U-turn on the Gary Lineker row.
On Monday, BBC bosses announced the Match of the Day presenter would be back on screens at the weekend, after calling a truce. But Tory MPs have gone on the offensive, demanding changes to how the broadcaster is financed.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former business secretary, said the £159-a-year charge is “past its sell-by date and it needs to go”. Fellow Conservatives who had demanded the BBC sack Mr Lineker were quick to support the idea.
Read more: Match of the Day star Gary Lineker 'offered big new job' after BBC suspension
Scott Benton MP said: “The licence fee is a decades out of date, regressive tax which people shouldn’t have to pay simply to watch TV.” He had argued the presenter’s position was “completely untenable”.
Tom Hunt MP, who had demanded Mr Lineker issue a full apology, said: “Times have changed. I sense there is growing support for moving away from the coercive nature of the licence fee.”
Meanwhile, a culture minister has claimed the BBC licence fee is losing support among the public, amid calls to drop the “poll tax on propaganda”. Conservative frontbencher Julia Lopez also noted that the corporation’s impartiality is important in relation to the future of the licence fee.
Her remarks came as DUP MP Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) criticised the BBC’s handling of Match Of The Day presenter Gary Lineker over his comments on Twitter about the Government’s immigration policy. Mr Wilson told the House of Commons: “The only disaster this weekend has been for the BBC in the despicable way it handled the Gary Lineker affair and then caved in to this man and his friends who rallied around him.”
Below: Stoke-on-Trent MP Jonathan Gullis criticises Gary Lineker
He added: “The BBC has shown once again it’s impossible, because of the bias inherent in it, to be impartial and it is now time that people are no longer forced to finance the BBC through the licence fee, especially when every week 1,000 people are taken to court by the BBC – 70% of them women – for refusing to pay this poll tax on propaganda.” Ms Lopez said: “(Mr Wilson) is right to highlight the importance of impartiality to the trust in which licence fee-payers hold the organisation and the importance in relation to the future of the licence fee.
“It’s something we’re considering, not least because there are fewer people paying the licence fee. We’re concerned the public is losing support for the licence fee, but also fundamentally the way in which people consume television is changing very rapidly and we need to make sure the BBC has a future that is sustainable in the years ahead.”
For Labour, Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, responded: “These Tory MPs are meant to believe in free speech but they’re really just snowflakes. The ongoing uncertainty around the future of the BBC is a deliberate strategy to keep it over a barrel, making it susceptible to political campaigns orchestrated by ministers, MPs and the right-wing press.
Liberal Democrat culture spokesman Jamie Stone added: “The BBC supports thousands of jobs in the creative industries across the UK. Endangering these jobs to settle a score with a Match of the Day presenter doesn’t sound like much of a game plan to me.”
Downing Street said the licence fee would remain in place until the end of 2027. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: "We remain committed to the licence fee for the rest of the current charter. But we've been clear that the BBC's funding model faces major challenges due to changes in the way people consume media."
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