I'd like to see a BBC that is independent of the government, ad-free, and cut loose from the need to chase viewing numbers. I don't know how to get from here to

I'd like to see a BBC that is independent of the government, ad-free, and cut loose from the need to chase viewing numbers. I don't know how to get from here to there. The TV licence is one of those anachronisms that should have gone away long ago. There's a wild mismatch between who pays and who benefits even if you accept the principle. And as you said funding through general taxation would be less regressive anyway. I don't see a big problem with setting that up. It requires an Act of Parliament that establishes an arms-length public body to run the BBC, which it more-or-less already has in practice anyway, and a budget, which can then only be changed through a further Act of Parliament. That's as "independent of the government" as you can ever get under our legal system, but at least any attempt to change it later would require active steps by the government at the time that would immediately attract attention and could be resisted in both Houses of Parliament if they were inappropriate.