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> Why do they need to use this tv license thing for BBC then? Even with horrendously massive cuts to public services and the Civil Service, the government has
by calcifer 1y ago
> Why do they need to use this tv license thing for BBC then?
Even with horrendously massive cuts to public services and the Civil Service, the government has a tiny headroom in its budget, in the single-digit billions. The BBC cannot be funded from general taxation without the licence fee.
- johannes1234321 1y ago> The BBC cannot be funded from general taxation without the licence fee. The question also is whether Ou want to directly pay it from taxes. Taxes fully depend on the current mood of the government. The fee does a bit of indirection limiting the direct influence.
- calcifer 1y ago> Taxes fully depend on the current mood of the government. The fee does a bit of indirection limiting the direct influence. Yes. In fact, that was the whole point of various "arms length" bodies - publicly owned, but largely shielded from political influence. Of course, this government took a gleeful sledgehammer to that principle by abolishing NHS England and assuming direct control via the Ministry of Health. We'll see how many institutions will be similarly butchered in the remaining 4 years.