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The future of the BBC as we know it was under threat today after the government indicated it would freeze the licence fee for the next two years and abolish it altogether in 2027.
Here’s what so-called culture secretary Nadine Dorries had to say.
This licence fee announcement will be the last. The days of the elderly being threatened with prison sentences and bailiffs knocking on doors, are over.
Time now to discuss and debate new ways of funding, supporting and selling great British content. https://t.co/sXtK25q27H
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) January 16, 2022
The timing has nothing to do with the fact that Boris Johnson is currently in hiding, sorry, self-isolating after the ‘partygate’ saga that threatens to consume him and his premiership.
Anyway, the news prompted no end of responses from people who came out in support of the BBC and these are definitely worth setting the video for.
1.
The BBC is something the whole world admires with envy. It is entirely appropriate that the insecure, spittle-flecked nut jobs of this government want to destroy it.
— Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) January 16, 2022
2.
Remember during the lockdowns when the BBC offered the biggest educational programme in its history? It ensured that even children who couldn’t access the internet could view curriculum-based programmes. It wasn’t commercially viable, it was extraordinarily valuable.
— Felicity Hannah (@FelicityHannah) January 16, 2022
3.
If you really think your Government can win back the public by tossing out a panicky weekend threat to the BBC, then you under-estimate the level of support, admiration and respect the public has for it. https://t.co/T3P91H1dJV
— Armando Iannucci (@Aiannucci) January 16, 2022
4.
Word of the day is ‘sparple’ (14th century): to deflect unwanted attention from one thing by making a big deal of another.
— Susie Dent
(@susie_dent) January 17, 2022
5.
so glad that the government has responded to these news stories about parties at Downing Street by *check notes* cutting the funding of the country’s biggest news organisation
— Henry Mance (@henrymance) January 16, 2022
6.
The BBC thing is an attempt to distract us from #PartyGate. Pass it on.
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) January 16, 2022
7.
I do sometimes wonder what this government likes about Britain, because it's not <checks notes>: the BBC, the NHS, the National Trust, farmers, fishing communities, London, the Queen, the concept of fair play, the England football team (results dependent) or the rule of law.
— Charles Williams (@RandomVentures) January 16, 2022
8.
The BBC has many strengths and many weaknesses, but I suspect this government wants to get rid of it because it holds them to account.
— Matt Lucas (@RealMattLucas) January 16, 2022
9.
After a week of Downing Street scandals & with more on the way, the front page of today's Daily Mail states that Sir Keir Starmer is "under mounting pressure to apologise". And that, boys and girls, is why many Tories dream of life with a diminished or even non-existent BBC.
— James Oh Brien (@mrjamesob) January 17, 2022
10.
This government is a pack of pissed up cultural vandalshttps://t.co/prXgqvQ3C5
— Nish Kumar (@MrNishKumar) January 16, 2022
11.
If, as the Government is implying re the BBC, we should only pay for something we like and agree with, I wonder if I can ask for all the money back I’ve had to spend in taxes on Brexit.
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) January 17, 2022
12.
If people want to complain to me about bias in BBC news please remember to include which bias it is. It’s fun to watch you cancel each other out.
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) January 16, 2022
13.
Having backed the wrecking ball of Brexit, the dimwitted Nadine Dorries now seems intent on destroying the BBC. She epitomises the worst kind of mutton headed libertarian vandal. Smashing up everything that offends their inadequacy.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) January 16, 2022
14.
Yes the BBC brings you the best in news, in sport, in drama, in music, in children’s, in science, in history, in entertainment, in current affairs and Sir David bloody Attenborough….but apart from that was has the BBC ever done for us? https://t.co/AZmIJeUbpy
— Gary Lineker
The post The government wants to axe the BBC licence fee in 2027 – 27 top-rating comebacks appeared first on The Poke.
Source: ThePoke
