You can hear the howls already as the BBC announce that most of the 1.5 million viewers aged over 75 will now have to start paying the £157.50 annual fee for their TV license from 1 August although any over 75's on Pension Credits will continue to receive it free.
I do have sympathy for the BBC as it was the Government in 2000 who decided to give the over 75's a free license, and then once they got the £745m bill, passed the funding responsibility on to the BBC.
The broadcaster is already facing a challenging financial environment and has launched a programme of voluntary redundancies as it attempts to make £125m in savings this year and has announced job cuts in TV news and local radio but the Government still have the brass neck to say the BBC's decision is a 'body blow to millions of British pensioners'.
The Government do seem to be gaining a reputation for pushing the blame for things that are unpopular onto others but the responsibility lies with the government transferring free licenses to the corporation and the government cannot absolve itself of responsibility of this unpopular move.
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