OUTRAGED MPs slammed "arrogant" remarks by BBC boss Tim Davie about forcing viewers to pay the licence fee.
He said it was "amazing" people are "happy" to find the £159. The director general's boasts to regional staff caused fury as the BBC scrapped free TV licences for the over-75s three years ago, claiming the scheme was too expensive.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries, who froze the TV charge, told the Daily Express: "Mr Davie makes the case as to why the licence fee is outdated and the review into future funding of the BBC is so necessary."
Her Tory colleague and Stoke North MP Jonathan Gullis said: "The arrogance of the BBC is astonishing. Tim Davie boasting about coining it from a tax forced on people during a cost-of-living crisis is sickening.
"Add in that the BBC is using this taxpayers' money to promote an increasingly woke, Left-wing biased agenda which sneers at the sort of hard-working people who live in my constituency then the case is clear for the licence fee to go." Mr Davie added that the broadcaster had "better budgets than some commercial operators", which he described as "glorious".
In a leaked recording of a meeting this week, he reportedly added: "That most households are pretty happy paying a licence being a forced payment. It's amazing what we're pulling off."
Dennis Reed, director of older people's campaign group Silver Voices, described Mr Davie's tone as "sneering".
He added: "With such arrogant attitudes from the top leadership, it's hardly surprising the reputation of the BBC is at such a low ebb. The true colours of BBC executives were first shown with the scrapping of free licences for the over-75s in 2020, when [they] refused to countenance any compromise to ease the pain of stopping this benefit.
This story is from the February 18, 2023 edition of Daily Express.
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This story is from the February 18, 2023 edition of Daily Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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