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Conservatives signal intent to slash BBC license fee if re-elected

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 16, 2014 | 2 min read

The Conservatives have signalled their intent to slash the £145.50 television license fee, used to fund the BBC, if re-elected in 2015.

Culture secretary Sajid Javid said ‘nothing should be ruled out’ in respect of the fee after declaring it to be a ‘large amount’ of money for hard-pressed families to pay in light of technological changes such as iPlayer.

Speaking to BBC 1’s Andrew Marr Show Javid said: “One thing we did when we came into government was to freeze the fee at £145.50. I still think that’s a large amount for many families up and down the country. This needs to be looked at when we have the Charter review process.

“Since the last Charter review technology has changed. Think of the number of people who consume programmes through platforms like Netflix or iTunes or even the BBC’s own iPlayer. That’s been a big technological change. When we have the review it needs to take all this into account... nothing should be ruled out and nothing should be ruled in.”

A number of alternative funding mechanisms have been proposed by MPs; including a subscription based system or household levy in a similar vein to council tax.

MPs are thought to have ruled out the introduction of adverts to fund the service however.

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