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BBC John Whittingdale

BBC licence fee faces change upon Whittingdale appointment as culture secretary

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

May 11, 2015 | 2 min read

Conservative MP John Whittingdale has been appointed culture secretary bringing into doubt the future of the BBC licence fee which he has previously branded as “unsustainable” and “worse than a poll tax”.

Speaking during Question Time last October, Whittingdale said: “It's actually worse than a poll tax because under the poll tax, if you were on a very low income you would get a considerable subsidy.

“The BBC licence fee, there is no means-tested element whatsoever; it doesn't matter how poor you are, you pay £145.50 and go to prison if you don't pay it.

“I think in the longer term we are potentially looking at reducing at least a proportion of the licence fee that is compulsory and offering choice… When I say it's unsustainable I am talking about over 20-50 years.”

This comes after ex-BBC chairman Lord Grade backed the corporation’s decision not to decriminalise non-payers of the licence fee in February.

BBC John Whittingdale

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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London.

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