Petition demanding over-75s keep free TV licences passes 700,000 signatures
PETITIONS demanding over-75s keep free TV licences passed 700,000 signatures yesterday.
It reflects widespread outrage at the BBC’s decision to axe them.
Tomorrow is the closing date for the petition on Parliament’s website which has already been signed by 167,283 people.
It passed 100,000 last week, meaning MPs must now debate the issue. A date has not yet been set.
Another petition, by Age UK, stood at 534,227 signatures last night.
Caroline Abrahams, a director at the charity, said: “We’ve been inundated with phone calls, emails and petition sign-ups — to the extent that our IT has sometimes struggled to cope.
“It demonstrates the strength of feeling.”
The Sun Says
DESPERATE BBC bosses say there’s no way to fund the licence fee for over-75s without sacking ALL their best-loved stars.
What rubbish. Do they seriously not realise how bloated their organisation is? The Beeb is stuffed with do-nothing middle-management types, many of them on grossly inflated salaries.
Far too much of its output is pointless, neither serving the public interest nor entertaining the average viewer.
Slimming down its sprawling empire could save millions — and stop elderly viewers having to fork out under the new licence fee regime.
Why not cut the regional news, which is driving local papers out of business?
The BBC is awash with cash. It is plain dishonest of them to pretend they can’t help out the over-75s.
She said the petition will remain open in the hope it reaches 650,000 signatures.
Only around 1.5 million households will be eligible for a free TV licence under the new scheme.
It is thought that about 3.7 million pensioners will lose out if the Beeb is allowed to scrap the free licence next June.
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