Liar, Liar, Liar.

[gulliver1]

Dec 2019, Part of the Conservative Party, Election Manifesto , was" Free TV licence for over 75's" and" thinking about abolishing it for good," yesterday it was announced The CONS will increase the fee from april this year. Is that why they are known as the Nasty Party ?. or even the Con Party

[aelmpvw]

i could live with the licence increase if the bbc weren't threatening to switch off the red button text service

[naomi24]

//£157.50 seems excessive //

£3 a week is cheap. 'Only Connect' and 'University Challenge' alone are worth more than that.

[maggiebee]

ichkeria - yes I believe that over 75s are exempt from paying for a TV licence, but that will come to an end in June this year. From what I have read, if you are in receipt of pension credit then you may still be entitled to a free TV licence. Means testing raising its ugly head once again?

[ichkeria]

The BBC, as mushroom’s quote shows, was effectively coerced into agreeing to take on the expense of the free licences - in principle - as a way of ensuring the licence fee was not frozen.
It’s not obliged to take it on, however: the government would have know full well at the time that the BBC was likely to refuse to take on the entire expense - after all it more then wipes out any licence fee increase - at which point there’d be a whole hoo-ha.
In short, the government got a bit of moral blackmail in while saving money, while the BBC kicked the can down the road and decided to take the flak.
Either way,I’m at a loss to understand the logic of the OP

[barry1010]

I was surprised to discover that the free licence for over 75s was introduced in 1982. I thought it was much earlier than that.

[ichkeria]

They were introduced by the Labour government in 2000

[gulliver1]

11.57 The logic of the OP . is that The Cons said in their manifesto that they would look into abolishing the TV Licence for ever , but they have not , they have increased it instead .

[barry1010]

No they didn't, Gulliver. I have quoted the exact wording from the manifesto above.

[ichkeria]

And as I have already explained to you, "looking into abolishting the licence fee" is a long term "aspiration", completely separate from managing the fee in the short term.
In addition to which I am pretty sure they did not promise "" Free TV licence for over 75's" either, in fact the complete opposite, as already explained.

[gulliver1]

12.04, and about to come to an end by the Conservative Goverment in 2020

[ichkeria]

that was to gulliver ...

[barry1010]

gulliver, how many more times? It is the BBC that is ending the free tv licence.

[ichkeria]

That is not true either.
Under the terms of the 2015 agreement, the BBC undertook to consult on the future of these licence fee arrangements.
That consulatation closed in mid-February, and the position is as follows:
" ...the BBC Board has decided that from June 2020 any household with someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit will be entitled to a free TV licence paid for by the BBC."

[ichkeria]

The (a different) government introduced the free licence: a subsequent decided to stop doing it in 2015.
The BBC has never paid it.
Until now, on a means tested basis

[dannyk13]

ich //someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit will be entitled to a free TV licence paid for by the BBC."//
That will be a very small proportion of old age pensioners.

[gulliver1]

Barry" how many more times" I am commenting about the Cons saying they would" look into abolishing the TV Licence" but they have not , they have increased the cost instead.

[Mamyalynne]

Last May, there was said to be more than a million pensioners who were entitled not claiming Pension Credit.

That number may have reduced with more take up but I'm sure many are still missing out.

[vulcan42]

"ich //someone aged over 75 who receives Pension Credit will be entitled to a free TV licence paid for by the BBC."//
That will be a very small proportion of old age pensioners."
I suspect that is why the BBC have decided to go down that route, makes them look benevolent. I've already received my letter telling me I resume paying, it's not due until November.

[ichkeria]

They’ve done it Vulcan as a compromise because they can’t really afford to take it on fully.
In my opinion the government should have continued paying it. They’ve passed the buck shamelessly

[Deskdiary]

Weren't answers removed from a science thread recently because they were considered misleading?

The OP, and pretty much every subsequent post by Gulliver, are not only misleading, they are, quite simply, wrong.

I'm not suggesting for a minute they should be removed - in fact, I'd love them to remain so that everybody can take delight in the nonsense Gulliver posts.