Boris Johnson suggests he could SCRAP TV licence fee

BORIS Johnson has said today that he is “looking at” scrapping all TV licences. With just three days to go before Britain goes to the polls on Thursday, the PM suggested on a visit to the North East that he could get rid of the hated licence fee. Asked by a worker in a factory […]

BORIS Johnson has said today that he is “looking at” scrapping all TV licences.

With just three days to go before Britain goes to the polls on Thursday, the PM suggested on a visit to the North East that he could get rid of the hated licence fee.

PA:Press Association

Asked by a worker in a factory whether a Tory government would abolish TV licence fees for everybody, Boris Johnson said: “Well, I don’t think at this late stage in the campaign I’m going to make an unfunded spending commitment like that, but what I certainly think is that the BBC should cough up and pay for the licences for the over-75s as they promised to do.

“But at this stage we are not planning to get rid of all TV licence fees, though I am certainly looking at it.”

He added: “But you have to ask yourself whether that kind of approach to funding a TV, a media organisation still makes sense in the long-term given the way other organisations manage to fund themselves – that’s all I will say.

“I think that the system of funding by what is effectively a general tax, isn’t it, everybody has a TV, it bears reflection – let me put it that way.

“How long can you justify a system whereby everybody who has a TV has to pay to fund a particular set of TV and radio channels – that is the question.”

The BBC has already announced that all over 75s will have to pay for their licences from 2020 onwards – when they currently get it for free.

Boris has said the Beeb should cough up the cash to pay for it, and Labour has also promised to save it.

At the moment anyone watching TV live or on iPlayer or ITV Player has to pay for a licence to do so.

But more and more Brits are taking to subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime where they pay by the month instead, for a different set of shows.

PA:Press Association

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.