Keir Starmer keeping open mind on BBC licence fee axe
Addressing this, Culture Select Committee chair Dame Caroline challenged the Labour leader on the "regressive tax".
According to The Sun, when asked about the future of the licence fee yesterday, Keir Starmer said: 'We're going through the review and it'll obviously come to its conclusion, and we keep an open mind on what we need to do with the licence fee.
Keir Starmer said he was 'open-minded' about the future of the TV licence (Image: PA/Stefan Rousseau) "But we are working closely with the BBC.'
What is the TV licence and when was it introduced?
The TV licence is a fee paid by households that watch, record or stream any television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast.
The fee was introduced in 1946, when TV broadcasting resumed in the aftermath of the Second World War.
This licence was originally issued by the General Post Office, which was the regulator of public communications in the UK at that time.
Recommended Reading:
How much does the licence fee cost in 2025?
According to the TV Licensing website, the price of the fee changed last April, seeing the cost of a colour licence rise to £174.50 a year.
The annual cost of the much rarer black and white TV licence is just £58.50.
Those who are blind or severely sight-impaired can apply for a 50% concession on this, meaning the colour licence costs £87.25.
There are also a number of other concessions and arrangements available for people living in certain types of residential care and for over-75s receiving Pension Credit.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘One in four councils could lose money' under Government's funding proposals
Around a quarter of councils in England could lose money under the Government's proposed reforms to how local authorities are funded, analysis has found. A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the changes would create big 'winners and losers' as ministers attempt to address perceived unfairness in levels of core funding across the country. Sir Keir Starmer's own council, Camden in north London, will be hit by the reforms when taking inflation into account, the IFS added. The think tank said Camden, along with other inner London boroughs including Westminster, will have less money to spend on services even if they increase council tax by the maximum amount allowed. Whitehall will provide a minimum level of funding, a so-called funding floor, for council leaders during the changes, but the IFS said overall cash for inner London town halls would be 11-12% lower in 2028-29 in real terms. The paper said: 'Around one in four councils would see real-terms falls in overall funding under the Government's proposals, with around 30 on the lowest funding floors seeing real-terms cuts of 11–12%. Conversely, another one in four councils would see real-terms increases of 12% or more.' The changes, which will come into effect from next year, are being consulted on by ministers. The Government plans to create a new methodology to assess local authority needs relatively and factor in population and deprivation. It will also assess need for adult and children's services. Overall spending will fall for 186 councils and rise by the same total sum for 161. One in 10 will see a fall in overall funding, while one in 10 will see an increase of 10% or more. The overall Government spend on local authorities will not change. The changes will be phased in across three years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29. Kate Ogden, co-author of the IFS report and a senior research economist with the think tank, said: 'England has lacked a rational system of local government funding for at least 12 years – and arguably more like 20. It is therefore welcome that the nettle of funding reform is being grasped, and some councils will benefit substantially under the new system. 'But the changes will sting for those councils that are assessed to currently receive too high a share of the overall funding pot, and so which lose out from moves to align funding with assessed spending needs.' The proposals are criticised in the report as 'not particularly redistributive to poor, urban areas of England'. It cites South Tyneside and Sunderland councils being among those to lose out from the reforms as slow population growth is accounted for. The report added: 'It is somewhat surprising that, on average, councils in the most deprived 30% of areas would see very similar changes in overall funding over the next three years to those for councils in the middle 40% of areas.' It noted that rural areas, which feared being badly hit by changes, will benefit from a 'remoteness adjustment' which will compensate areas with higher needs due to being far from large towns. London will gain the least, with a cash-terms increase in funding of 8% in the next three years. Analysis by the London Councils collective has highlighted the risk of the funding 'dramatically underestimating' needs for local services in parts of the capital. It noted the city has the highest rate of poverty in the country when housing costs are factored in. Outside the capital, the East Midlands (22%) and Yorkshire & the Humber (19%) are set to see the biggest increases in funding, with the South East set to see the smallest at 13%. However, the proposals have been criticised by youth charity the National Children's Bureau, which said it was 'significantly concerned' about the way the Government plans to work out needs for children's services. Ms Ogden added: 'The Government should consider giving highly affected councils which currently have low council tax rates greater flexibility to bring their council tax bills up to more typical levels to offset funding losses. 'More generally, reform of council funding allocations is just one part of the financial sustainability puzzle. Efforts to reduce demands on, and the cost of providing, local services through reform and the use of new technology will also be vital.' A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: 'The current, outdated way in which local authorities are funded means the link between funding and need for services has broken down, leaving communities left behind. 'That's why we are taking decisive action to reform the funding system so we can get councils back on their feet and improve public services, with the IFS recognising that our changes will better align funding with councils' needs.'
Spectator
30 minutes ago
- Spectator
Motherland: how Farage is winning over women
On the campaign trail in the Midlands ahead of May's local elections, a journalist asked Nigel Farage: 'Do you have a woman problem?' The twice-married, twice-separated father of four laughed and said: 'God, yes. I've had 40 years of it.' His response was characteristic of Reform UK's leader – a determination not to take things too seriously and a tacit acknowledgement that every political cause he has espoused has been more popular with men than women. 'Around me there's always been a perception of a laddish culture,' he says. 'Ukip was the rugby club on tour.' In last year's general election, 58 per cent of Reform voters were men. Since May, when Reform seized 700 seats and ten councils, that has begun to change. It may now be Keir Starmer with the woman problem while Farage is leading a march of the mums. Polling from More in Common shows that, since the general election, Reform has gained 14 percentage points among women, while Labour has lost 12, but with every cohort over the age of 45 the swing is even bigger. It is most pronounced in the Generation X group, aged 45 to 60, where Reform tops the polls. They also lead among Boomer women, aged 61 to 75. Among the over-75s, where the Tories still win, more women support Reform than the Lib Dems, Labour and the Greens combined. Farage's party also wins the support of one in five women in the younger age groups, putting them second to Labour on 22 per cent among millennials aged 29 to 44 and on 19 per cent among the 18- to 28-year-olds of Generation Z (just four points behind Labour). Luke Tryl of More in Common says: 'Among all other age groups, women have been moving towards Reform more than any other party.' So what has been happening? These are not votes Reform has chased. There has been no policy announcement on childcare, designed to appeal to female voters. 'We haven't forced this,' says Farage. 'It's something which has evolved.' One explanation is that women in general are more likely than men to have a downbeat view of Britain's future, to worry that the country is broken. Only 17 per cent of Gen X women, one in six, think Britain is on the 'right track', compared with 23 per cent of Gen X men. Sixty-four per cent of Gen X women think the country is on the wrong track. Across all age groups, women are far more likely than men to report feeling sad, angry, lonely or stressed. Sixty-two per cent of Baby Boomer women say the world is getting more dangerous, compared with 48 per cent of the general population. 'Our conversations with Gen X women find them among the most disillusioned with the status quo,' says Tryl. 'Some are struggling to make ends meet at a time when they thought they would be winding down. 'Not living but surviving,' as one put it, and often dealing with double care challenges – looking after elderly relatives, but with adult kids still at home who can't get a foot on the housing ladder. As this group have become dis-appointed in Starmer's ability to bring about the 'change' they voted for, the appeal of Reform is starting to grow.' Another explanation is that Reform has begun to attract high-profile women to its ranks, which is helping to change the old perception that Farage leads a red-trousered gammon brigade. Andrea Jenkyns, the mayor of Lincolnshire, and Sarah Pochin, the MP for Runcorn, have been joined in recent weeks by the former Tories Laura Anne Jones, Reform's first member of the Welsh Senedd, and the London councillor and prosecutor Laila Cunningham, a mother of seven. Cunningham and Pochin flanked Farage at the launch of his party's summer campaign on crime. This week he was joined by Vanessa Frake, a former prison governor. Senior figures in the party believe that Cunningham would be a formidable candidate for mayor of London in May 2028. 'A moderate Muslim mother who can communicate very effectively and talks sense,' one says. 'She could win.' The issue on which Labour is most conspicuously losing support to Reform is migration, where the government's policy of housing asylum seekers in local communities has led to widespread protests. Farage began to notice the difference during the run-up to the Runcorn by-election in May. There, women voiced concerns about migrants in HMOs, Houses in Multiple Occupation. 'Runcorn was an awakening for me,' he says. 'We started getting women, not just mums, much older women too, saying, 'Have you heard what's happening in that street? There's 15 of them in there.' In Runcorn I began to get this sense that HMOs are worse than hotels because they're just plonked in communities. And it led to great fear.' Since then, women have led the protests across the country. In Epping, they protested outside the Bell hotel after a 14-year-old girl was allegedly assaulted by an Ethiopian asylum seeker. Another group of women and girls gathered outside the four-star Britannia International hotel in Canary Wharf, London, wearing pink clothing, held up England flags and chanted 'stop the boats'. The Epping protest was partly coordinated by Orla Minihane, a Reform candidate and mother of three. 'I know a few of these women. They're Reform members and they frighten the life out of me,' jokes Farage, channelling the Duke of Wellington's observation about his own troops. 'I think there is grave concern, particularly among mothers about their teenagers, whether they can let them out. This issue has changed the perception of how people view Reform.' Again the numbers back this up. Just 18 per cent of women now support temporary accommodation for asylum seekers in their local communities, down 36 per cent since 2003. Among men it is 22 per cent, down 30 per cent. Two thirds of Baby Boomer women and those over 75 say they think Britain cares more about immigrants than its citizens (compared with just half of the overall population). 'Support for housing asylum seekers locally in temporary accommodation has fallen most with women,' says Tryl. 'And our polling finds a great willingness to say protests against the hotels are appropriate.' New polling has found that voters back the Epping protests by 41 per cent to 32 per cent. More than seven out of ten voters say they expect rioting over asylum issues, a stunning normalisation of political violence. The proportion who think violent protests are accept-able has risen from 7.7 per cent to 12.2 per cent – the equivalent of two million adults since August last year, when More in Common last conducted the poll. The number of women who think violent protest is justified has doubled from 5 to 10 per cent; among men it has risen from 11 per cent to 15 per cent. Mothers are two points more likely to say that violence is justified than other women. Mothers of children under 16 are more likely to cite concerns about sexual violence as a reason for opposing asylum hotels. There is a global tradition of protests by women having great potency. Mothers of soldiers killed in Russia's war in Chechnya caused trouble for Vladimir Putin in the early 2000s. The Mothers of the Disappeared were key in eroding the authority of the Argentinian junta in the 1970s. But it also seems to be the case that women feel able to say things that men don't. It was striking that when the Lionesses won the Euros last month, Chloe Kelly, who scored the winning penalty, said: 'I'm so proud to be English.' Hannah Hampton, the England goalie, added: 'We've got that grit, that English blood in us.' Contrast that with the men's team, which has leapt on every woke bandwagon. Farage watched with glee: 'It was a Mo Farah moment, like where an interviewer talked about his culture and he said: 'Listen, mate, I'm British.' I loved it.' It is not all plain sailing for Farage. Tryl explains: 'There are a couple of significant Achilles heels when it comes to support among women – firstly they are most likely to cite Nigel Farage's closeness to Donald Trump as the top barrier to voting Reform. They are also nervous about Reform's stance on Ukraine, and sceptical of plans to make renewables more expensive.' But the march of the mums has the other parties worried. It explains why Kemi Badenoch rushed to make an attack video this week when Farage ducked a question about Vanessa Frake refusing to rule out trans women in women's jails, forcing him to clarify his position. 'Only Conservatives will protect women-only spaces,' Badenoch said. It explains why Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is working on a new childcare offering for voters, expected to be unveiled in the autumn. In Downing Street, Starmer's team believes the only way to win back voters of all sexes is to 'lift the sense of doom and decline' by dealing with the country's deep structural problems. He has been heard to say: 'I will not just be another PM who left this for someone else to sort.' The Prime Minister has been at Chequers this week summoning aides for crunch discussions. Senior figures say Starmer has been warned he has just six months to turn things around or be 'timed out'. Speechwriter Alan Lockey and head of strategy Paul Ovenden are working on a party conference speech which will warn voters there has to be 'profound change to the way we do things', but also spell out a more optimistic vision of what Britain looks like if Labour gets it right. He will pitch the government as the friend of those who work hard and earn their money. Insiders say Starmer is 'furious' about the lack of progress on deregulation and building. Expect a new planning bill to combat that. The PM also wants the autumn Budget to be bold rather than simply plug gaps in the government's spending plans. He met Rachel Reeves last week. His argument against Reform will be that he is plotting a revolution for the quiet majority, while a vote for Farage means 'decline and grievance'. For his part, Farage says that while he is 'not going to pander to anyone', his new audience of women supporters 'will demand' policies of their own. But ultimately his pitch is that the main parties have failed. At Goodwood last Friday he was approached in the betting ring by punters. 'They're not supporting us because they want to stick two fingers up. They agree with our analysis that it's really bad, but they actually have great faith in us to sort it out.' If we get to 2029 and the public believes Farage is more likely to solve Britain's ills than Starmer or Badenoch, the other parties will have both a man and woman problem.
Leader Live
an hour ago
- Leader Live
Angela Rayner calls on China to explain redacted images in super-embassy plans
The Deputy Prime Minister, who as Housing Secretary is responsible for overseeing planning matters, has given Beijing two weeks to explain why areas of its plans for the sprawling new embassy site in central London are blacked out. China hawks in Westminster have raised alarm that the embassy site could be used to conduct surveillance from British soil. Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong, as well as Uighurs and Tibetans, meanwhile, fear that intimidation and reprisals from the Chinese state could result from the embassy going ahead. This follows reports that bounties have been issued by China for dissident Hong Kongers now living in the UK. In a letter seen by the PA news agency, Ms Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government asks planning consultants representing the Chinese embassy to explain why drawings of the planned site are blacked out. The letter gives two weeks, until August 20, for an explanation to be provided. It also suggests that a final planning decision on the embassy site, at Royal Mint Court, just east of London's financial district, will be made by September 9. Copies of the letter were also sent to the Home Office and the Foreign Office by email. It notes that the Home Office requested a new 'hard perimeter' be placed around the embassy site, to prevent 'unregulated public access', and acknowledges this could require a further planning application. Plans for the super-embassy were previously rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022, with the Chinese opting not to appeal. However, Beijing resubmitted the application a fortnight after Sir Keir Starmer's election victory last year, believing Labour may be more receptive to the application. Since entering office Sir Keir's Government has sought closer links with Beijing after a cooling during the final years of Conservative Party rule. The final decision will be made by Mr Rayner in her role as Housing Secretary. Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, said: 'No surprises here – Labour's rush to appease Xi Jinping's demands for a new embassy demonstrated a complacency when it came to keeping our people safe. Having deluded themselves for so long, they've recognised we were right to be vigilant. 'The disturbing bounty notes urging British citizens to kidnap and deliver their Hong Kong neighbours to the current CCP embassy laid bare the risks – yet the Foreign Secretary didn't even summon the Chinese ambassador in the face of direct threats to those seeking refuge in our country. 'CCP ambitions for a larger embassy would only amplify opportunities for espionage and transnational repression.'
