𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Reform MP Rupert Lowe has slammed the Government for reportedly considering extending the TV licence fee for those who do not watch the BBC or any live programme.

Households who only use streaming services and don’t use the BBC iPlayer may still be subject to the yearly charge under reported Labour’s plans to change the way the broadcaster is funded.

However, Reform’s Mr Lowe believes the fee should be “entirely scrapped” rather than extending it to those not watching the BBC.

The MP for Great Yarmouth wrote on the social media platform X: “The BBC licence fee shouldn’t be extended to streaming services, it should be entirely scrapped.

“Force the organisation to stand on its own two feet – it would collapse within a week.

“When we win the next election, the BBC will be immediately defunded. It will be glorious!”

Nigel Farage’s party has previously pledged to scrap the fee as party of Reform UK’s ‘contract’ with voters. Last year, the party leader said: “The out-of-touch wasteful BBC is institutionally biased. The TV licence is taxation without representation. We will scrap it. In a world of on-demand TV, people should be free to choose.”

The party made their stance on axing the TV licence fee clear following Reform MP for Ashfield, Lee Anderson, ripping up a BBC licence fee letter at a conference in September 2024.

Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly exploring other funding options, including the public-service broadcaster to show adverts, charging BBC radio listeners a fee and taxing streaming services.

With the migration of live-TV watchers to on-demand services such as Netflix and Disney+, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is looking at ways of keeping the BBC well funded before the broadcaster’s charter ends in 2027.

Those who watch live TV or use BBC iPlayer are required to pay the licence fee of £169.50 a year. However, this figure usually rises annually with inflation.

Ms Nandy said earlier this month that she had “already started initial discussions with the BBC leadership about the charter review” with the hope to “future-proof our national broadcaster until well into the latter half of this century”.