BBC licence fee: Charging over 75s ‘is wrong’ says Williams
The BBC issued 4.5 million pensioners with a licence fee bill for the first time last August. Since then, BBC policy director Clare Sumner said 2.7 million licences have been bought by people aged over-75 and another 750,000 older people have applied for a free licence due to being on Pension Credit. But campaign group Silver Voices said that leaves one million pensioners who are still yet to pay for their licence fee, leaving the BBC out of pocket by £160 million.
It comes as sports presenter Gary Lineker was revealed to be the highest-earning star with an unchanged salary of £1.75 million in the 2019/20 financial year.
Commentator Darren Grimes said he backed those people over-75 being put off paying the £157.50 annual fee while BBC stars were being paid huge figures.
He wrote on Twitter: “New figures have revealed that a million over-75s have refused to pay the telly tax since the BBC reneged on a pledge they’d made by ending free licences for pensioners.
“Not sure I’d part with my pension to fund Lineker’s luxuriant salary so he can pontificate on Twitter either!”
Gary Lineker was revealed to be the highest-earning star in the 2019/20 financial year (Image: GETTY)
Silver Voices Director Dennis Reed added the BBC may need to reach a compromise with over-75s to get them “out of this hole”.
Mr Reed said: “Silver Voices proposed a number of compromise options to the Director-General and his team last autumn, but these were rejected out of hand.
“I have renewed our offer to discuss options which would cost a lot less than £160 million to get the BBC out of this hole of their own making”.
Mr Lineker recently signed a new five-year contract, which will see his salary cut by 23 percent percent.
READ MORE: Galloway blasts BBC for telling 9-year-olds there are 100 genders
Director-General Tim Davie said Mr Lineker was a great example of the “best talent” (Image: GETTY)
That means the former England footballer could earn less than Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball, who has seen her pay rise by £1 million since taking over the breakfast show in 2019.
Director-General Tim Davie said Mr Lineker was a “brilliant broadcaster” and his new five-year deal was a great example of the “best talent and the best value”.
He added: “And before you ask, Gary knows his responsibility to the BBC in terms of his use of social media.”
He was referring to Mr Lineker’s use of Twitter to discusses his political views online, despite BBC staff following impartiality rules.
DON’T MISS
BBC under ‘existential’ threat after losing 250,000 TV licences [REVEALED]
BBC licence fee row erupts as UK will NOT decriminalise non-payment [INSIGHT]
BBC facing £160m blackhole as one million over-75s reject licence fee [DATA]
BBC licence fee: Over-75s have ‘had enough’ says campaigner
Mr Lineker said the BBC “recognise that I tweet carefully and will continue to do so”.
Conservative MP Julian Knight, who chairs the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, said the rise in pay for some presenters was “concerning”.
He said: “Despite Gary Lineker’s pay cut, when millions of pensioners are having to find extra cash to pay for the BBC and services they depend on, it’s concerning to see not only has the bill for on-air talent has grown by more than £1m but that more than 100 senior executives are paid over £150,000 a year – in many cases considerably more than that.”
It comes as the Government scrapped proposals on decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee after a public consultation on reforms.
The BBC licence fee costs £157.50 a year (Image: EXPRESS)
People who watch television or the BBC iPlayer without paying the fee could face a fine of up to £1,000.
Those who refuse to pay the fine for non-payment then risk criminal conviction and imprisonment.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government “remains concerned” that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is “increasingly disproportionate and unfair” in a modern public service broadcasting system.
A BBC spokesperson told Express.co.uk the claim so many pensioners were refusing to pay the licence fee to help top up Mr Lineker’s salary so he can “pontificate on Twitter” was “wrong”.
The BBC issued millions of pensioners with a licence fee bill for the first time last August (Image: GETTY)
They said: “This claim is wrong. So far over 80 percent of older people have transitioned to the new system, including 2.7 million older people who have set up payment plans and 750,000 on Pension Credit who have applied for a free licence paid for by the BBC.
“We continue to process applications, we’re giving people plenty of time to get set-up, the process is Covid-secure and we have a range of measures to support people, including payment plans.”
