Would you do this? (Ben Fogle's TV license donation)

[ScrewBalls99]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48607896

Would you do this?

Donate towards over 75's free TV licenses?

@Alsohuman if you read my post i said if she only has £400 pm she should be getting a free tv licence.

I don't think it should be free to all but it's going to be devastating for many old people living on their own who only have the TV and radio for company

^^ And, as usual, the "Just About Managings" ie people not eligible for Pension Credits but having to live on a very tight budget, will be the people hit worst.

By the way, nice to see the predictable MN "race to the bottom" factor in lots of the comments above ie I'm hard up so why should anyone else get help? Old folk have a lot of additional costs - they often spend more time at home due to mobility/illness problems, may well live in older, less energy-efficient homes, and feel the cold more so heating bills etc are higher. For older people struggling to get by already and possibly suffering from isolation and loneliness, this amounts to an additional tax. The Tories promised in their 2017 manifesto that they would protect free TV licences and now they have done the dirty by making the BBC make the decision to cut.

as if we’re not struggling financially as a country

Well we're not really, are we? We seem to have plenty for corporate tax cuts and vanity projects like HS2. On GNI we're the 17th richest country in the entire world (richer than the likes of UAE, Japan, France, NZ) and either the 5th, 6th or 7th largest economy based on GDP and depending on how much impact of Brexit uncertainty is measured. Austerity is entirely a political ideology rather than an economic necessity and we've fallen for it wholesale based on how many 'race to the bottom' comments there are on this thread.

Mummy It sounds like your DM is a victim of bad luck and poor choices

I know this wasnt aimed at me but if "poor choices" was said to a single parent on here there would be outrage

Absolutely!
I imagine Mumsnet would shut down completely if we took the view that single parenting was a result of poor choices.

So easy to attack the older generation!

Thing is - the older generation have been young, so speak from experience. The younger generation have yet to experience old age!

Pointless posting really, as no-one changes their mind about anything, ever.

But anyway ... it's so, so, depressing to see the way the generations are lined up against one another. All the seething resentment of parents and grandparents (from whom many will inherit!). Depressing. I said up-thread somewhere that my parents are poor, not home-owning, proud and probably not claiming everything they might be entitled to. There are probably many, many people like that, in their 70s and 80s.

So nasty. Let's hope our own children are less like this. And that the BBC is still with us then.

This thread shows me what mumsnet people are really about! These are pensioners that have been through a lot. The BBC doesn't need the extra money. Some rely on the TV for company and wont know how to apply or pay. And the BBC is supposed to be impartial? Has anyone saw how much they have plugged the spice girls on Eastenders? Or u see brands being shown. Now quite political too. All extra money for the government. While cutting off those that need it.
If the BBC was genuinely impartial then maybe. But better to scrap the whole thing and admit they advertise.

Clarissa people on here aren't on the whole saying that all pensioners should pay the licence fee. What they are saying is that it should be means-tested by tying it in with pension credit.

There are lots of very well off pensioners and there are lots of very poor pensioners. Things like free TV licences (and winter fuel allowance etc) should be given to those in need of them.

This isn’t extra money for the BBC. This is the BBC choosing to take a 5% budget cut instead of the 15% budget cut that would be required to make this a non-meanstested benefit.

All pensioners haven’t been through a lot though . Many within the younger generations have / are. Where are the pensioner groups, politicians and tv stars demanding free TVlicenses for the poor and disadvantaged who are younger?

Time and again on MN I have seen threads bemoaning cuts to younger generations. Never once have I seen outrage or offers of funding from the elderly( who are the wealthiest demographic) in support. No you get cries of snowflake generation, their entitlement and continuation of the grey vote which keeps the Tories in power. Frankly I think if there had been more support there would be less indifference now to a cut for a relatively cheap tv license for those that can afford the £3 a week which is involved.

The hypocrisy on this is astonishing.

@Arct1ctern, why are you so intent on perpetuating generational conflict? Can you not see how ridiculous it is to judge and condemn an entire generation in this way? Austerity has caused immense suffering across all age groups, it’s not a race to the bottom.

I personally have no problem with continuing to pay for my TV license when I hit 75, that’s easy for me to say, I can afford it. Thousands can’t. My issue is with the method of means testing chosen, whereby many pensioners who shouldn’t have to pay will end up doing so. Why not make the cut off point those who pay tax? HMRC already hold the data, it would be easier, simpler and cheaper to administer than the current proposal.

Simply replying to others who have mentioned it.

I’m guessing you agree there are other groups who deserve free tv licenses and will be arguing for those getting them alongside all pensioners regardless of wealth.

Any means testing will cost a fortune, because it always does.
It would be easier to scrap the license altogether and make the BBC compete in the marketplace. I hate adverts between programmes - but they are not life altering and I do watch commercial channels regardless.
With every turn, there are increasing disincentives to save - often it's the most frugal, not just the better off, who end up paying for things despite their meagre circumstances. Best not to save for a rainy day or your old age as you'll find yourself penalised.

I don’t think other age groups have the same need for free TV licences. Many people over 75 are housebound and their TV is their only form of entertainment or contact with the outside world. I’d certainly back more help for the poor in other age groups which is of relevance to them.

Means testing won’t cost a lot of money under this proposal because they’re piggy-backing on an existing means-testing scheme. Just as nowadays an over 75 person ticks the box marked “I am Over 75”, in the future they’ll tick the box marked “I am over 75 and in receipt of Pension Credit”. That’s why the BBC have proposed it this way instead of inventing a new income threshold of their own devising.

As I said above, ideally you’d tie it up with a campaign on pension credit, who’s entitled and how to claim.

It’s a shockingly bad way of means testing, quite deliberately designed to ensure a substantial number of people with entitlement won’t claim it. Pension credits get zero publicity, many people of that age view benefits as charity and are too proud to take them. Then there are Theresa May’s just about managing who come in just above the threshold.

Similar can be said of many other far bigger cuts though.

And your point is?

Perhaps this will promote awareness of pension credits then and encourage people to apply? I don't see why pensioners would be happy to claim a free TV licence but wouldn't want an additional payment I'd they are eligible?