SCRAP the BBC for a 'better and fairer' service, demands leading thinktank
A LEADING thinktank has called for the BBC licence fee to be scrapped along with its flagship channel BBC1 to provide a "better and fairer service".
In a damning report on the Corporation the Centre for Policy Studies claimed that the BBC's iPlayer service is now the most "expensive" of its kind online and said it was unfair people will be forced to pay for it from tomorrow.
A loophole is being closed today which allowed people to watch BBC shows they had missed on live TV for free.
They will now risk prosecution and a £1,000 fine if they download or watch programmes on the iPlayer without a TV licence.
BBC's Worst Excesses
The BBC should no longer seek to be bigger and to provide everything to everyone
The report, Licence to Kill: Funding the BBC, said that the recent licence fee review of the BBC had been a missed opportunity and that it was time for it to be radically changed.
The report noted that "nearly everything the BBC provides, is now provided to the same or better standard by other organisations which have to compete with one another and fight hard for every consumer penny."
It also criticised it for "clinging on to the idea of a BBC that tries to do everything."
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It claimed that removing "BBC services which are not distinct, (and) are already provided by its competitors would save £1.8 billion - half the licence fee".
It called for the closure of BBC One, Radio 1, Radio 2, local radio and BBC orchestras among other services.
The report criticised the Government for what it said was simply a "tweak" in the BBC charter review.
It said that the new set-up - designed to remain in place until 2027 - was "not sustainable" and that a full charter review should take place during the "midterm review" in 2021.
It said that the case for "radical changes to the BBC" to make it "much smaller" and "specialise in what no-one else can do... will become even more compelling over the next few years".
The report called for the scrapping of the licence fee and for a smaller BBC to be "directly funded by the Government in the same way as the Arts Council or the NHS".
The report's author, Martin Le Jeune said: "The BBC should no longer seek to be bigger and to provide everything to everyone.
"There is no reason for providing that universal service via a compulsory tax, when people could choose instead how to spend their own money on what they really want."
The report said that the BBC, which it called a "state-funded colossus", should only provide content that "is important to the UK's social, political and cultural wellbeing."
It claimed that the BBC had not been "genuinely innovative" and that a BBC archive of content should be open for all to use.
"The BBC has already made a few gestures to restrict its output - of which removing recipes created an enormous fuss as it was intended to do," the report said.
"After a decent interval, the BBC will creep back into soft areas again."
A BBC spokesman said that the £145.50 licence fee was great value for money.
The spokesman said: "The recent government consultation on the future of the BBC showed huge support from the public for the BBC and what it does, with very few people wanting the BBC cut back.
"The BBC and the licence fee represents excellent value for money."
