British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking into whether to continue a licensing fee that funds the majority of the budget for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Treasury official Rishi Sunak said Sunday that the prime minister requested a review of the license fee that costs British viewers $206 a year. The licensing fee currently accounts for 75% of the company’s budget. Johnson said before the country’s recent election, “You have to ask yourself whether that kind of approach to funding a TV, a media organization still makes sense in the long term.”
The BBC faced criticism of bias from both Conservatives and Labour Party supporters. The broadcaster hit back at criticism itself, saying it upheld requirements to stay nonpartisan.
“In a frenetic campaign where we’ve produced hundreds of hours of output, of course we’ve made the odd mistake and we’ve held up our hands to them,” Tony Hall, the director-general for the BBC, said. “Editors are making tough calls every minute of the day. But I don’t accept the view of those critics who jump on a handful of examples to suggest we’re somehow biased one way or the other.”
While the Conservatives in Parliament could opt not to pull all funding to the BBC, Sunak signaled the government could also decriminalize not paying the licensing fee.
“That is something the prime minister has said we will look at and has instructed people to look at that. I think it’s fair to say people find the criminalisation of nonpayment of the licence fee to be something that has provoked questions in the past,” he said.
Johnson, 55, won a landslide election last week, with Conservatives picking up 365 seats and a majority in Parliament. It is the largest majority for the party since Margaret Thatcher was the prime minister in 1987.
