Dawlish Discussion

Following on from d-day where Theresa May said to the old soldiers "we owe you a debt we can never repay " well how about paying their tv licences !!!!  . Soldiers in thier 90s being made to pay for a tv licence by the cynical bbc. It was a  typical tory ploy to give the bbc the decision about licences for the over 75, so they could wash their hands of any outcry, Did they ever believe the bbc  would not implement cost cutting measures.?? The clown in charge came on radio yesterday and justified it by saying a lot of penshioners  wanted to pay for their licences, as if that was the reason. It's about time some politicans grew some and started the ball rolling to make the bbc  be funded via commercial business. The goverment want to give judges a 70k pay rise, bOJO wants to make the rich richer via tax cuts paid for, by raising our national insurance contributions. All this when we have universal credit issues, food banks, and back to work jobsworths who declare people clearly incapable people fit for work. Why can't the tv licences for over 75's be funded from the overseas"development" money. We "hard to believe " pay money to China who are the second biggest wealthy country in the world.  As cameron said "we are all in it together" - eh don't think so.

Another reason to back the rise of "populism" and sweep away the old political systems.

Rant over ........

"To be clear, no UK aid goes to Russia and in fact no DFID money goes to China.

The UK ended traditional aid programmes to China in 2011."

https://dfidnews.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/18/mail-on-sunday-claims-on-aid-to-china/

And there is always more that they will not tell you about until it hits you. But guaranteed it will not hit the rich. They have always been the dirtiest underhand party that ever existed, yet you still get people voting for them that are the hardest hit. My mother was a strong tory voter, and she struggled trying to bring up five of us. She would not change her mind at any cost. Snobbery comes to mind.

Some info on Populism;

Populism is an ideology which presents "the people" as a morally good force against "the elite", who are perceived as corrupt and self-serving. Populists differ in how "the people" are defined, but it can be based along class, ethnic, or national lines. Populists typically present "the elite" as comprising the political, economic, cultural, and media establishment, depicted as a homogeneous entity and accused of placing their own interests, and often the interests of other groups—such as foreign countries or immigrants—above the interests of "the people". Populist parties and social movements are often led by charismatic or dominant figures who present themselves as the "voice of the people". 

Although populist leaders often present themselves as representatives of "the people", they often come from elite strata in society;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populism

British government gives China £49.3million in foreign aid despite them having a space programme... and even Beijing can't understand why

• China became the first country to land a craft on the 'dark side' of the moon
• Beijing is planning a manned space station by 2022 as part of £3.9billion plans 
• The probe is part of the Communist regime's plan to become a major power in extraterrestrial travel  

By COLIN FERNANDEZ SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 00:04, 4 January 2019 | UPDATED: 11:30, 4 January 2019

Has anyone ever wondered why unemployment keeps going down?

There is a pdf file published by the government in May of this year part of which refers to the confusion concerning Uk money and China.    

@majorp - well now, there are full time, secure, well paid jobs and then there are part-time, self employed,zero hour, insecure, badly paid jobs. All count as employment.

This link throws some light on why the unemployment figure is low https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/uk-unemployment-jobs-figures-brexit-turmoil-honda-nissan-a8798856.html 

majororp/lynne

What has this to do with this topic.???

Majororp- you should start a new topic  header not just fire in something completely different to the topic being discussed.

So to get back bang on topic.......... I wonder if any of the Tory leadership/Prime Minister hopefuls will promise to reinstate the free tv licence to the over 75s? 

Although the Tories are in the main to blame for tv licences .It must be the the Director  General Tony Hall giving out gossly 

inflated wages to talentless uncharisismatic planks such as Gary ( walkers crisp)   lineker OBE. and Alan Shearer, Both whose wages

exceed it is alleged 1million  pounds per year plus taxis.

PS I'll do it for for Half of that.

How many world Corespondents does this broadcaster need.

Me thinks it's time for redundancies pronto, Starting with Mr. Hall.

it 's alledged or argued that 190  employees of the BBC are on a million pounds a  year . Get rid Of Andrew Marr John Snow and the biased 

reporting.

Well @1263 the topic started off about TV licences having to be paid by those  over 75 and then went on to tell others (as if they already didn't know) what other tory tricks they get up too. I threw my bit in as it is important to know what other tricks they have got up to since they have been in power. When you are unemployed and you register as unemployed, you are not given the unemployment hand out for nothing, you have to agree to go on courses that they give you, unpaid when they give you a place to go. Charity shops, and Powderham Castle are two places that I know of where you are given a job (Unpaid of course) where you carry out the work that they give you for a few weeks. And then when you have finished that course, they give you another and another, until they find a real job for you or you find a job yourself. So you can't really call going on a course a job but the tories do it.

Up and down the country there are 10's of thousands doing that every week. So there is another trick the tories have got into.

How many readers on this site know what is going on?

and here's some more info re the high employment figures 

BBC Reality Check asked the Office for National Statistics (ONS) whether working just one hour a week was all that was needed to be officially classified as employed?

The ONS confirmed that was the case.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46264291

Yes @Lynne, but the people that I am talking about are never paid by the person that has provided the course, no matter how many hours they are on the course. They are still registered as unemployed and only receive their unemployment benefit. If they do not go on a course, they receive no benefit. So they have to go on a course.

https://www.aol.co.uk/news/2019/06/12/sir-michael-palin-blames-a-bad-deala-between-bbc-and-governme/

Why is it costing £87 million to build a new set for Eastenders and is it really necessary?

The point is those on benifits and over 75 get it free those not on benifits who can afford £2.97 per week like me will have to pay. Do i mind not at all do i care i now have to pay not one jot. So why is that firstly last year as in previous years i paid so its no different i will have to start paying again. If you can afford two or three pints per week at a average of £3.60 a pint one drink less and you are in profit it's just the way it is and remember there are plenty of very well off pensioners out there.

" Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, introduced this perk in 2000, Osborne revoked it in 2015, and made the BBC face up to footing the entire bill of £745m a year from 2020. The corporation had an invidious choice: make serious cuts in the service for everyone, or run the risk of upsetting a small but vocal group who have become used to this token of the state’s largesse."

Read more here :https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/bbc-tv-licence-over-75s/

Oh and apparently............... MPs are entitled to free tv licences.

Perhaps they should give this up? 

Read more here: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/bbc-tv-license-over-75-mps/

Perhaps those candidates involved in the Tory leadership race should be asked if they themselves claim the free tv licence and whether or not they do perhaps they should also be asked if they think, under the circumstances, that it is okay that MPs should be entitled to claim such a thing.  

Those of us who do not watch the BBC are still forced to pay the £155 tax.  Make it a subscription service like Sky or Netflix, then we would see how truly popular the BBC really is when there is a choice of not funding it.

Please can someone post how much the tv subscription services are per year.  I genuinely have no idea as I don't subscribe to any of them. 

Text of letter in one of today's national newspapers.

"Why all this outrage from the tabloids about the BBC proposing to only provide free tv licences to those on pension credit? I don’t see many newspaper proprietors offering a free paper to the over 75s. The BBC was put in an invidious position. If the status quo remained, programmes, even entire channels would have to be cut."

As Burneside says, scrap this unfair tax. If you want BBC services then you can pay for it by choice.

Currently I have to pay for the BBC even though I hate it.

@Lynne Netflix cheapest offering is £5.99 a month. Amazon is £7.99 and Sky starts around £22 so roughly £71.88, £119.88 and £264 per year. 

I wouldn't say £155 is value for money.

If ITV costs anything less to run than the BBC I'd be very suprised.

Even if I don't own or watch a television, advertisers pay to run ITV and consequently I pay for it when I buy their products. No escape! 

If I chose to buy a newspaper six or seven days a week, I'd pay vastly more each year than a TV licence - and the papers are supported additionally by advertising.  Sky's monthly charges are (in practice) far more than the basic £22 quoted, and they produce very little of their own original material.  Netflix at £7.99 a month is good value if you simply want to watch films.  Newsgathering is left to BBC, ITV and Sky (and when viewed alternatively varies very little despite allegations of political bias) - whatever your party of choice, you'll suspect you are being lied to.

In reallity I do own and watch a television, largely for BBC programmes (OK. call me a snob!).  I very rarely watch ITV1, and more often watch Channel 4. 

I pay for a licence, and don't object to the cost, although look forward to reaching 75 soon.

There just has to be a question concerning all this at the (very appropriate) BBC tory leadership/Prime Minister hustings being held on Tuesday. 

Our Next Prime Minister, hosted by Emily Maitlis, will be broadcast on BBC One at 20:00 BST on Tuesday.

A maximum of five candidates will take part, as the person who gets the lowest number of votes in that day's second ballot of Tory MPs will drop out of the contest beforehand.

The participants will face questions from viewers across the country via local TV studios.

Apparently Jeremy Hunt, one of the tory leadership candidates, was involved when this idea was first mooted. 

If you want some background info click on this link and have a read https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/jeremy-hunt-pensioners-pay-for-tv-licences/   

The BBC is outdated and needs to move into the 21st centuary. If we want to watch BBC then we should pay like we do for Sky or any other service and if we don’t then we shouldn’t be paying, it really is that simple! I happily pay for Sky yet rarely watch the British Bias Corporaton(BBC) so why should I have to pay for something I choose not to Watch? 

I’m now ready for the volley of vitriolic abuse associated with this forum!