Britannist

No one is forced by the law to buy the items advertised in any commercial break on ITV, Sky or other independent television channels.

We are forced by law to pay the BBC.

Not only do we have to pay the BBC in order to get the legal right to use a television to watch ITV and other commercial broadcasters, we have to pay the BBC more money than ever before at a time when its share of the overall television audience is lower now than it was 20 or 30 years ago.

Besoeker

No problem. And no apology needed.

Britannist

It was my mistake and I should apologise.

I had forgotten what I had posted myself .

Besoeker

As my old friend Tom often said:
"The man who never made a mistake never made anything."

Britannist

That's a good saying , I must say. I've taken a copy for my quote file.

I try to be fair and admit when I am wrong.

Tara

I haven't read this thread as I've heard it all before but I really don't see what there is to talk about regarding the TV Licence, just don't pay the blasted thing. I haven't bought one in years and have come to no harm whatsoever, got another one of their letters two days ago and ripped it up and put it in the bin just like all the rest. Seriously, you pay for these things because you choose to, if everyone in this country refused to pay the BBC wouldn't have a leg to stand on. The ball really is in your court, stop being wimps and spend the money on something more useful instead. Rant over.

Britannist

The cost of collecting the television licence is enormous. I stand by my call for the Government to pay the television licence on our behalf.

This report published at Burton earlier this month may be of interest - particularly the part of the report on television detector vans:

Burton (Daily) Mail 13.9.07 (brief edited extract): "More than 400 people in Burton and South Derbyshire have been caught watching TV without a licence in the first seven months of this year alone, new figures have revealed. Among the excuses used by those without a licence were "I no longer require a licence as lightning recently struck my television, and it has not worked since" and "I only have a small TV so why should I pay?" However, licensing bosses were not impressed with the range of excuses and insist that £1,000 fines will be used to enforce householders to buy an annual permit, which costs £135.

There is, however, growing debate about whether 'detector vans' or handheld detectors actually exist as evidence from such alleged technology has never been produced in court. Critics also claim that even if they did exist, such technology could possibly be illegal as it would constitute 'covert surveillance' by the state."