Former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey has made his views known on the BBC’s hopes to increase the licence fee.
The move by the BBC, the largest increase to the licence fee in 40 years at an extra 9%, has been widely criticised, including by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who said the BBC should “be realistic about what it can expect people to pay at a time like this.”
Bailey said: “I'll sum it up in in one word, that's indefensible. Well so indefensible. If it was any other body asking for this money, somebody would pile in and say we can't do that. And we have to ask ourselves, is the BBC licence morally correct? There's a strong argument it isn’t.”
“Is it relevant? You know, you're in a world now where young people have to pay for all manner of the subscriptions. Would they pay for the BBC if asked?”
“But the most important thing is I think the BBC has lost a lot of support because it effectively argues against the people who are most likely to support it.
“It is middle Britain. It is my mum, your mum who are most likely to support the BBC. But they're the people who are pushed to the edge because they don't have the right thought processes.
“If you asked the people of this country today if they wanted to pay the BBC licence even at a reduced rate for get an inflated rate, I think you get a resounding no, OK?”
