To wonder when the BBC news will mention tv licences for over 75s

[familycourtq]

Story in the i today says BBC will scrap free licences for most over 75s.

The gold reserves did not undermine financial stability, this is a fallacy, they used the proceeds of the sale which wad advised by the treasury to buy other assets which have also increased in value.

Tax credits were not introduced in response to the crash, the increased up take was because of the crash as people's incomes went down.

Wages rose every year of the labour government, untill the crash, including those of the lowest paid.

I suspect we won't see eye to eye on that then!

I can see that your perspective holds truth, it just isn't a whole truth... just as mine isn't. I

I think it reflects that the pensioner population is changing as the baby boomers reach that age. My grandparents (who would all be in their 90s if they were still with us) survived on state pensions, living very frugally. I would say that they needed the free tv licence. My parents and in-laws, who are all approaching 75, are all financially comfortable. They drive new cars and go on multiple holidays each year. They really don't need a free tv licence. And for the poorest who do, it is still available. This seems fair to me.

It was on radio 4 this morning and possibly late last night.

They're suggesting it may help pensioners not currently claiming pension credit to claim it - which will cost the government more money that this apparently ever did when the government paid for it directly

They really don't need a free tv licence. And for the poorest who do, it is still available. This seems fair to me. That's because it is fair!

And, as bigKit said, may backfire on the government if it increases the number of pensioners who legitimately claim pension credit. But that wouldn't be the fault of the BBC, or the pensioners who are currently not claiming a credit they are entitles to!

Well it’s about time that age bracket faced some level of austerity.

If you had said, the wealthy, instead of 'that age bracket' I would have agreed wholeheartedly with you. Austerity affects the poor however old they may be, and as the UK is reportedly one of the richest countries in the world, I don't think anyone here should be facing austerity. If the wealthy (Rees-Mogg I am looking at you here) who base their businesses abroad to avoid paying fair taxes, were to be made to pay their share, I suspect austerity would not be an issue for any.

I'm all for fairness, and I think this is not a bad plan about the tv licence, as it does allow for those who are not well off, to claim it still.

Well it’s about time that age bracket faced some level of austerity.

Considering that anyone over 75 lived through at least part of the war, and the extended period of even greater rationing that came after it, I think one can say they have all faced 'some level of austerity' and many of them faced even greater hardship.

A spectacularly tasteless and ill-informed comment, especially in the context of last week's events.

Thing is there is such a difference between wealthy baby boomers and poorer pensions it becomes silly to lump them all together. My granny when she was alive was poor. She lived on a pittance and would have been choosing between food and heating without help from my parents. She absolutely needed extra benefits like winter fuel allowance etc. My parents who are now approaching 75 do not need that same sort of support. They are not wealthy with masssive pensions but comfortable and have less fixed costs than a family on their income would have so more disposable income.

I got a breaking news alert on my phone as soon as it was announced. Although I suspect the OP is just being goady.

Thing is there is such a difference between wealthy baby boomers and poorer pensions it becomes silly to lump them all together.

Agree totally. It should be means tested like every other benefit, and available to poorer people of working age. It simply isn't true that pensioners are the most hard-up group any more. There's quite a lot of research out there about it. Try www.if.org.uk/2013/10/13/pensioners-are-now-the-group-least-likely-to-be-living-in-poverty-new-figures-suggest/ and www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/22/economics-of-retirement-power-pensioner-spending for more nuanced ideas. It is not ageist to compare the different experiences of different generations: it might lead us to somewhere more balanced.

I think this raises important questions about the funding model of the BBC. It has lost all claim to impartiality over the last 3 -4 years especially, the quality of its programming is questionable and with the multitude of programs channels and programme watching media eg netflix , Amazon etc it doesn’t seem right you basically have no choice to pay for the BBC if you want to watch tv. There needs to be choice, it’s commodity not A tax

It's a reasonable question Lifeover. Personally I support the concept of public sector broadcasting, but perhaps the BBC needs to provide evidence that it can still fill that slot - and then support against the rest of the media, which has an obvious interest in discrediting it.

The problem is with the licence fee not with scrapping this benefit for over 75s. Purely and simply the BBC should fund itself through advertising or a subscription model.

I wouldn't expect over 75s to get free Netflix or Now TV but a (very biased) TV channel that is effectively funded by a tax is unbelievable in 2019.

The only reason this has happened with over 75s is because a lot of people just don't bother to pay the TV licence anymore - the number of households is increasing but the number of BBC licence fees is declining. The BBC are doing this because they know most over 75s will dutifully pay.

To be honest I feel like a complete mug for paying it. I'm basically paying £150 a year for my dc to watch a few episodes of octonauts / Peter rabbit a week and to watch planet earth or blue planet when a new one comes out. That's it. I do t watch the news or current affairs programmes as they're too biased.

Actually the reason its happening is that in 2015 the government stopped paying this for over 75s.

The bbc is better value for money than anything subscription or advertising in terms of output and quality.

@Zipee

That's relative. There are more things I personally want to watch on Netflix, including BBC content, and it's cheaper.

Maybe we should pay for Netflix subscriptions for over 75s?

It was originally a government policy, they stopped doing it in 2015.

The bbc have covered it since then.

It isn't relative, you pay more for ITV and other channels indirectly than for the BBC.

I had an email from the bbc this week. It is not them scrapping the subsidy; it's the government. The bbc will give a free licence to any person over 75 who is getting pension credits - so the poorest. I think that's fair.

So instead of all the outrage and people saying 'boycott the bbc', how about not voting tory?

I had an email from the bbc this week. It is not them scrapping the subsidy; it's the government. The bbc will give a free licence to any person over 75 who is getting pension credits - so the poorest. I think that's fair.

So instead of all the outrage and people saying 'boycott the bbc', how about not voting tory?

I had an email from the bbc this week. It is not them scrapping the subsidy; it's the government. The bbc will give a free licence to any person over 75 who is getting pension credits - so the poorest. I think that's fair.

So instead of all the outrage and people saying 'boycott the bbc', how about not voting tory?

I had an email from the bbc this week. It is not the bbc scrapping the subsidy; it's the government. The bbc will give a free licence to any person over 75 who is getting pension credits - so the poorest. I think that's fair.

So instead of all the outrage and people saying 'boycott the bbc', how about not voting tory?