BBC is a turn-off for the young…so why scrap free TV licences for OAPs?
THE BBC is only kept going by the affection, nostalgia and cold, hard cash of the older generation.
It would be dead without those of us who remember Top Of The Pops, Blackadder, Harry Carpenter, Boys From The Blackstuff, Kenneth Wolstenholme, the Dimblebys, The Likely Lads, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the Hairy Cornflake.
By stupidly scrapping free TV licences for 3.7million people aged over 75, the BBC just burst its own golden bubble. You silly old Auntie! Despite the BBC’s unapologetically anti-Brexit bias, millions will go to the grave with a soft spot for the Beeb.
But the brutal truth is that young adults born this century do not give a damn about the BBC. My 16-year-old daughter and her generation have no contact with the corporation.
These kids think David Attenborough is that nice old man saving the planet on Netflix. They are big on BuzzFeed. They get their entertainment from YouTube, Netflix and Instagram.
Even Facebook and Twitter seem horribly old hat to these teenagers. The BBC inspires no love at all in the millennial heart. To these 21st Century sprogs, born with a smart phone in their hand, the idea of paying £154.50 a year to the BBC is absurd.
Increasingly, it seems absurd to even those of us who fondly remember Bill And Ben, The Flowerpot Men. The licence fee is a telly poll tax from another century.
'ACT OF SELF-HARM'
The BBC only gets away with raking in a total of £4billion a year in licence fees because of the generations who grew up when the BBC was the only show in town.
The BBC was extremely foolish to show older viewers such wanton disrespect. Because now some painfully difficult questions are being asked of the broadcaster.
Why does the BBC need to send hundreds of its staff to groove at Glastonbury every year? Does Gary Lineker REALLY deserve an eye-watering £1,759,999 per annum?
And why does ANYONE need to pay the licence fee in a world of Netflix, YouTube, Amazon, Sky, BT and the infinite diversions of the internet?
Is there ANY place for a compulsory TV tax? Yes — the last century! The BBC has committed an epic act of self-harm.
Why does anyone need to pay the licence fee in a world of Netflix, YouTube and Amazon
It was also a crass miscalculation by greedy BBC bosses to announce they were cancelling free TV licences for the over-75s just one week after the nation honoured the generation who paid for our liberty with their youth, their blood and their lives.
Victor Gregg, 99 years old, is a former prisoner of war who spoke for the nation. “It’s only days ago (the BBC) were patting all these old people on the head and calling them heroes, this generation which has saved the world,” said Victor.
“These are the people now who are over 75. They’ve lived their life. They’re knackered.”
Will the BBC prosecute Normandy veterans and their elderly widows for non-payment of the licence fee? Not a great look.
And what a sickening prospect that any poor or vulnerable person could be prosecuted for not stumping up £154.50 a year to finance the bottomless BBC trough.
BLOATED, ARROGANT, AND INDULGED FOR TOO LONG
The BBC’s mugging of the over-75s is a wake-up call for us all. This bloated, arrogant corporation has been indulged, protected and bankrolled for too long.
The fat cats at the BBC need to tighten their bulging belts. Sky-high salaries need to come down. Grotesque waste — like the annual BBC beano to Glastonbury — has to be cut back.
The BBC’s expansionist digital empire needs dialling down. Profligate BBC bosses must start to live within their means. £4billion a year is plenty. And, yes, we need to start a national debate about the relevance of the licence fee in the modern world.
And above all, the BBC needs to start showing some respect to the older citizens of this country. Because this breaking news just in.Nobody else is watching.
'Joker' Jo won't be gagged
JOKING about throwing battery acid in someone’s face is exactly like joking about rape. It will never – and can never – be funny, no matter how much you disagree with the views of the person who is being raped or disfigured by acid.
Luckily for Jo Brand, she did not recommend throwing battery acid at a Labour MP or a member of an ethnic community. They would never have let her inside Broadcasting House again.
But because Jo only joshed about throwing battery acid at right-wing politicians, her paydays at the BBC are safe.
And although Brand was investigated by the police, I suspect the BBC now loves her even more.
The comic insists she was joking and would never encourage anyone to throw battery acid at a politician for daring to have views that Jo disagrees with, like if we should possibly respect democracy and leave the EU.
What a relief. And I will say this in Jo’s defence – I never saw anyone less likely to throw away a calorie-stuffed milkshake than this cruel, unfunny, virtue-signalling fatberg. Just kidding, Jo!
Oxfam damn well better find those responsible
THE Charity Commission has published a damning report on Oxfam, detailing widespread sexual abuse of children by Oxfam executives in earthquake-struck Haiti.
We are told that we should keep donating to Oxfam. But there is no sign that the men responsible will ever be brought to justice. So why the hell should we?
And can we please stop referring to the children abused in Haiti as “prostitutes”? What happened with those girls in Haiti, some as young as 11 , was not prostitution. It was survival sex.
If you are starving in a disaster zone, you do not have sex with a middle-aged charity worker for money. You do it to stay alive.
Who nose what is in cocaine?
AFTER Michael Gove’s cocaine confession, Boris Johnson was mocked for saying that he was not sure that he actually took the drug.
But the scary truth is that nobody ever really knows what they are putting up their nose because this stuff is not regulated.
It comes with no list of ingredients. There is no quality control. Cocaine is routinely cut with talcum powder, icing sugar and worse.
Anyone who takes “cocaine” might believe they are on the real-deal Bolivian marching power, but you simply never know.
It could easily be rat poison you are putting up your hooter. That is why I always warn my children that they should never touch cocaine with a barge pole, or indeed a rolled-up fiver.
Vietnamese model Ngoc left the world agog
THE Cannes Film Festival was agog at the sight of Vietnamese model Ngoc Trinh, who rocked up to the premiere of A Hidden Life, Terrence Malick’s painfully po-faced film about a conscientious objector in World War Two, wearing a mere rumour of a little black dress.
Since returning to Vietnam, Ngoc has been heavily criticised by the Vietnamese government, who have launched an enquiry into whether she violated the country’s public decency laws.
“I don’t care if people criticise it because I felt pretty in the dress, which made a good impression on the Cannes red carpet,” said Ngoc.
The Vietnamese authorities should give the girl a break. She is a fine ambassador for their wonderful country. And her dress is almost certainly a lot more interesting than Malick’s sombre three-hour film.
Snubbing Russia is out of the question
TWENTY-FIVE million Russians died defeating Nazi Germany and it would be unforgivable if the West snubs Russia when we mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day in May, 2020.
Normandy reminded us that all gave some and some gave all. Every World War Two veteran I ever had the honour to know would tell you the same thing. Nobody gave more than Russia.
We're still expecting you, Bond
DANIEL CRAIG was trying hard to look cool and Bond-like when he hobbled through New York’s JFK airport in a foot brace and on crutches.
Bond 25 – the working title of the next 007 film – has had a run of rotten luck. A director who quit. An explosion on set. Agonising over the script. 007 with a walking stick. By the time Craig, 51, recovers, his co-star Rami Malek has other filming commitments.
“You can’t have a Bond film where 007 does not come face to face with the villain so it’s a complete nightmare logistically,” said one insider.
Even this torrential rain has buggered things up for the production as Pinewood Studios, Bucks, was trying to pass itself off as sun-drenched Cuba. Bond 25 has been delayed more often than Brexit.
Hot for robots
THE Sun’s summer sex survey revealed that one in ten men and women would get it on with a robot.
More 3-In-One Oil, darling?
Vote leave for Emily
JEREMY CORBYN is reportedly thinking of sacking Emily Thornberry because she keeps demanding a second EU referendum.
Corbyn prefers to sit on the fence, attempting to placate both Labour’s working-class Leave voters and its middle-class Remainers.
One day that fence is going to have to be surgically removed from Jeremy’s wrinkled old buttocks. Some commentators have wondered if her imminent sacking is why Emily, aka Lady Nugee, has a face like thunder. No, she always looks like that.