- Position‹2 of 2
No, the license should not be mandatory
This position holds that the BBC licence fee should not be mandatory. It argues that the fee is an unpopular, regressive tax that hits poorer households hardest, is hard to enforce in an age of streaming, and props up a service many people no longer use.
Supporting arguments · 7
- The mandatory license stifles innovationMarket failures drive innovation. The BBC is protected from market failures by a mandatory license.
- The license fee disproportionately affects poor householdsThe BBC television license is a regressive tax on poor households.
- The license fee is impossible to enforceA mandatory fee is only useful if everybody actually pays it. There is no legal and practical way to enforce the license fee, so it’s up to choice whether people pay it or not. Therefore, it's pointless to make a license fee mandatory.
- The BBC Trust cannot be trustedThe BBC Trust, which receives the license fees, has proven it cannot be trusted with the responsibility.
- The TV license is unpopularThe public does not like the mandatory license fee that goes to the BBC.
- The BBC doesn’t account for the majority of TVWith more channels and new ways of watching tv flooding the market, the BBC is no longer the main provider of television content. Yet the rising license fee forces all Britons to pay more into a system that they use the least.
- Linear TV is deadThe mandatory license is modelled on a user model that is outdated.