We’ve railed against wasteful spending at the BBC throughout our 21 year history. We’ve also challenged the organisation on its establishment outlook, which usually ignores the concerns of typical taxpayers and tends towards an ever-bigger state.
Lots of people are open to the idea of a much smaller state-funded BBC, adhering to past principles of high culture and serious news. But that’s not what the BBC is - and hasn’t been for some time. It competes in the commercial market using taxpayers’ money, helping to kill off local media outlets with its dominant regional stations, and wasting cash chasing a youth audience it has no hope of catching. It has lost the confidence of taxpayers.
The licence fee is not fit for the 21st century. With drastic technological change and the myriad ways in which people watch the media, the current model looks increasingly outdated. In January 2020, we launched our Axe the Tax campaign to scrap the BBC licence fee. It’s time taxpayers’ stop being forced to support the BBC!
We have launched a new monthly newsletter, written by former BBC journalist and broadcaster Duncan Barkes, who will keep a close eye on everything going on at the broadcaster while lifting a lid on the way it operates. Sign up to receive it below.