The BBC should be left to “go bust” and have all its licence fee income cancelled, according to Reform UK Deputy Leader Ben Habib.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on the broadcaster to “get real” with its plans to ramp up the licence fee.
Speaking on GB News, Habib said the BBC does not provide a public service to Britons, meaning it does not justify being a “form of taxation”.
“I don’t think the BBC provides anything beyond any other channel”, he said.
Ben Habib hit out at the BBC
GB NEWS / PA
“The BBC increasingly pumps its own ideology on the climate, its own ideology on immigration, its own position on Brexit.
“I can’t see what the public service position of the BBC is. It should have its income from the public abolished.
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“It should just go. Frankly, I don’t care if the BBC goes bust. So what?
“No one is going to miss it. Stop the income instantly, we wouldn’t miss a thing.”
Journalist Ella Whelan waded in on the discussion by admitting she would not be in favour of the BBC going bust as she is a “fan” of the broadcaster, but concurred with the sentiments put forward regarding the licence fee.
“People get prosecuted for not paying the licence fee", she said.
Ella Whelan believes the BBC has its uses
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“It’s an obvious problem that people don’t talk about. I would scrap the fee. The strength of the BBC would stand on a subscription service.
“In terms of its arts programming, a lot of the time it’s unmatched. BBC Archive is sometimes wonderful television.
“If we move to a subscription model like Netflix, people would pay for it.”
Rishi Sunak is reportedly set to block the BBC’s nine per cent licence fee rise, while urging the broadcaster to be “realistic” about what the public can afford.
The annual fee is due to rise by almost £15 to £173.30 in April, which would represent the biggest single increase for almost 40 years.
Frustrations have been levelled at the corporation in recent months after they refused to brand Hamas terrorists despite committing atrocities on October 7 in Israel.
A BBC insider told The Telegraph: “We get that there are cost of living challenges, but some of our competitors have put up costs by over 30 per cent.
“The BBC isn’t expecting anything like that, but we would argue that we are important to the UK and we offer excellent value for money, and every penny in investment in the UK is good for the wider economy.”
