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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To withhold out TV licence fees until the BBC stop sanctioning child abuse.

69 replies

Leena49 · 10/10/2012 05:53

I am not happy to keep paying a fee to the BBC. How many more child abusers lifestyles are we paying for? They have covered this up for years and sanctioned the behaviours and we have been funding it!

OP posts:
SausageDogBusyStreet · 10/10/2012 06:40

I presume then that you are not watching tv then either, until the bbc stop 'covering things up'.

ripsishere · 10/10/2012 06:42

Really?

RoobyMurray · 10/10/2012 06:43
Hmm
Original poster
Leena49 · 10/10/2012 06:45

So we should all just keep paying then because TV is much more important than children being abused in their offices!

OP posts:
MaureenCognito · 10/10/2012 06:47

Stupid op

JakeBullet · 10/10/2012 06:47

YABU....do you watch the BBC? If so then you need to pay a licence fee.

I don't disagree with your assessment by the way but I think the BBC now is a different one than existed years ago.

I hope there are some of the abusers still alive and quaking in their boots given the revelations coming out.

I don't think withholding the licence fee is justified though.

pumpkinsweetie · 10/10/2012 06:48

Wish we didn't have to pay it, or rather i don't believe in the TV liscense even before this all come out. But unfortunetly i won't be risking a fine or a prison sentence anytime soonHmm

Fwiw the BBC are a disgrace

OddBoots · 10/10/2012 06:49

That's fine as long as you stop watching live TV while you do so.

I'd quite like to stop paying tax because I don't agree with many, many things the government are doing, would that be okay with you, OP?

Original poster
Leena49 · 10/10/2012 06:53

We should be shouting a little louder is what I'm saying. I'm far from stupid by the way! And... If I found out David Cameron was a child abuser I would be threatening to withhold tax yes definitely.

OP posts:
JakeBullet · 10/10/2012 06:58

Your idea DID go through my mind too but it's not workable as it won't change anything to do with entrenched attitudes. You are right, we need to be shouting from the rooftops about this...what happened was unforgivable and must never happen again. Withholding the licence fee won't do it though, there has to be an inquiry and heads need to roll if still alive. The issue is that many of the guilty will now be dead though.....but not all from what I hear.

hermioneweasley · 10/10/2012 07:02

The allegations are from years ago, before the vast majority of people who currently work there even started. I don't think there's any suggestion that they are currently covering up - it's been the lead article on their online news many times.

More broadly, my (enlightened) friends in the US look at our BBC with covetous eyes and many use the online service to get the most impartial news reporting in the world.

Original poster
Leena49 · 10/10/2012 07:04

Oh such a respected organisation but behind closed doors......!

OP posts:
OddBoots · 10/10/2012 07:07

Behind closed doors the majority of people working there are just average Joes and Janes with no influence or power.

But if you feel strongly enough about this that you would stop watching live TV in your household then fair play to you, well done for making the sacrifice.

HecateLarpo · 10/10/2012 07:14

Realistically, all that will happen is you will get fined £1000 (or whatever it is now). If you fail to pay it, they can ultimately put you in prison for defaulting on the fine (the courts have the right to do that, whether it is done often or not).

That is all that will happen. You can tell them all you like that you're watching tv with no licence because you're outraged etc etc, but they won't give a shiny shit. They will just prosecute you.

So I really don't think it will be as effective as you seem to think.

And they won't care at all if you're standing on the rooftops shouting that you are going to not pay it because of x, y, z.

The only thing that would work is if everyone in the country didn't pay. It's the numbers you see. One person is nothing.

So I would suggest that you use your anger more productively. Identify your goal and work out how best to achieve that. Because shouting about not paying your tv licence will be ineffective, I assure you.

HecateLarpo · 10/10/2012 07:15

oh yes, but you can get rid of your tv and make your personal protest that way. They won't be affected by the loss of an annual £140 or whatever it is, but you'll feel you've taken the stand you want to.

xkcdfangirl · 10/10/2012 07:18

Yes YABU. If you watch telly, you should pay the licence fee. If you really feel that strongly, throw away your telly and then don't pay the licence fee because you wouldn't be required to.

It's not unreasonable or unusual to boycot companies whose morals you disagree with e.g Shell, Nestle and other multinationals have all had boycotts at one time or another. But you wouldn't see a thread along the lines of:

WIBU to drive off without paying after filling my car from a Shell petrol pump untill Shell stop supporting human right abuses in Nigeria?

WIBU to take a kitkat from the shop and not pay for it until Nestle stop harming babies by marketing formula milk dishonestly in third world countries?

You would be prosecuted like any other licence avoider, as everyone would assume, probably quite rightly, that your moral outrage was just being used as a convenient front to save money.

Shrieklette · 10/10/2012 07:20

YABU, but only because you are still paying your television tax - ditch it, and the tv, and you'll still be able to watch the good stuff online or via box sets legally, without the need to pay said 'fee'.

Unfortunately, for the other part of your op, the BBC won't care about your reasons. It will take up to 4 years for them to send somebody round, and that person will be employed by Capita, an outsourced company contracted to pursue and collect the tax on behalf of the BBC.

Rosebud05 · 10/10/2012 07:21

I sort of know what OP means though, that the BBC should be held accountable to the public for their terrible collusion in JS's abuse of children.

MrsApplepants · 10/10/2012 07:30

I hear where you're coming from OP, but all this will do is get you into trouble.

catgirl1976 · 10/10/2012 07:42

Oooh look. You've solved a complex issue by witholding £124 a year.

The BBC must be quaking

Have a "Well Done" badge.

Any more plans to sort stuff?

catgirl1976 · 10/10/2012 07:42

Sorry. Up too early with DS

trixie123 · 10/10/2012 07:47

it all smacks a bit of "them" and "they" at the BBC. "The BBC" as an organisation haven't done anything. Specific individuals did and withholding your license fee will do naff all but as others have said, boycott the whole thing if it makes you feel better.

RuleBritannia · 10/10/2012 07:49

The licence fee is a charge for having a working television. It doesn't matter whether you watch it or not.

crashdoll · 10/10/2012 07:55

YANBU.....2 wrongs definitley do make a right!!

Erm or perhaps not.

worldgonecrazy · 10/10/2012 08:07

As someone else has said, the BBC as an organisation haven't done anything. Certain individuals, most of whom no longer work at the BBC did terrible things. However, I'm sure most women over the age of 40 can remember what working life was like in the 1970s and 80s when sexual abuse was the norm at work - thank the Gods we have laws in place these days and attitudes have changed.

Nowadays the BBC has very strict guidelines for anyone who works with children, including chaperones and CRB checked staff. The BBC wasn't perfect in the 1970s but it is a lot better than many other companies these days.

Certain sections of the media are using the story to have a go at the BBC, but the truth is that journalists at those same media outlets back in the 1970s also knew this was going on and also colluded in the secrecy.

As for withholding your licence fee, whatever floats your boat. If you have satellite go and have a look at Fox "News" and then you might realise just how lucky we are to have something such as the BBC, which is the envy of many people in the world.