David Dimbleby says that TV licence system is ‘very unfair’

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David Dimbleby hit out at the “unfair” TV licence fee which currently stands at £159 a year. The former BBC heavyweight warned that the broadcaster cannot continue to exist in its “present form” over the next 10 years. Speaking to LBC, Mr Dimbleby said: “All the arguments that are going on, to make people £159 for having a TV even though they don’t watch it and risk being taken to the courts is not a system that can sustain.

“I think we have to find a way of making the rich pay a bit more and the poor pay a bit less.

“Somehow it’s got to be found. Nobody has yet found a way.

“They’ve got a committee looking at it, they’re trying to change it but I do believe that’s how the BBC has to be funded.

“It belongs to all of us and the fact that we pay for it makes it ours and that’s a good system.

“It’s very unfair the way it’s done at the moment and I think that needs to change.”

It comes as the new Culture Secretary has cast doubt on the future of Government plans to sell off Channel 4, saying it is re-examining the “business case” to make sure “we still agree with that decision”.

The decision to take Channel 4 out of public ownership was announced under the tenure of Michelle Donelan’s predecessor Nadine Dorries, who led the controversial move during her time under Boris Johnson’s leadership.

Ms Dorries announced she was standing down as Culture Secretary following Mr Johnson’s departure earlier this month, with his successor as PM, Liz Truss, naming Ms Donelan the new Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

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She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Ms Truss’s government is re-examining the “business case” for the sale of Channel 4.

“We are looking especially at the business case for the sale of Channel 4 and making sure that we still agree with that decision, and that is what I am doing,” she said.

“I’m the type of politician that bases their decisions on evidence, that bases their decisions on listening and that’s what I will be doing over the coming weeks.

“I will take that approach when it comes to Channel 4 and every aspect of my brief.”

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Speaking on BBC Breakfast, when pressed as to whether there was “a bit of room for manoeuvre” regarding the sale, she insisted: “I think it just means that I’m looking at the business case but I will update you once I’ve done so.”

Ms Donelan, who represents the Chippenham constituency, also addressed the BBC licence fee, saying she would look at it “in the round” as she declined to say whether it could be scrapped.

Appearing on Sky News, she praised the coverage of the Queen’s death and funeral by both the BBC and Sky.

But she also issued a warning to the national broadcaster over the future of the licence fee.

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