Another day, another round of benefits hysteria from right wing rags over plans for the licence fee. Labour have announced plans to consider scrapping the licence fee for benefit claimants. That move came after the review of the BBC Royal Charter was published yesterday and contained ways the corporation could save money whilst bringing in more viewers.
Labour propose to scrap licence fee for benefits claimants
It currently costs £174 a year for a licence fee, something many can’t and don’t want to shell out for. The review said that the UK government is taking inspiration from other countries:
In Germany, for example, concessions are available to individuals who receive social benefits and to some students and people undertaking vocational training
It carried on to explain the reasoning behind why this would make sense
As we consider the future of the BBC’s funding model, we must consider how it will impact different household budgets.
A funding system that better accounts for different household situations could help alleviate concerns relating to enforcement by reducing the risk that households are unlicensed because they are facing difficulties with affording the fee.
Right-wing rags have a benefits-hating meltdown
Seems like a pretty reasonable thing to do, right? Well, not if you write a gutter trash newspaper like The Sun, Daily Mail or The Telegraph.
The Telegraph went with:
Free TV licences for benefits claimants under Labour plans.
Along with a heavy dose of fear-mongering:
Free TV licences for the benefits class will be the end of Labour and the BBC.
This is a column from Michael Deacon which starts with an absolutely fucking wild retelling of world war 2 social security history:
In the depths of the Second World War, economist William Beveridge drew up radical plans to tackle poverty. Among his recommendations, set out in the historic Beveridge Report, were a universal system of social insurance and the creation of a national health service.
To the best of my knowledge, however, he did not add: “Oh, and one other thing. To banish Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness once and for all, the unemployed must be entitled to spend all day watching Homes Under the Hammer free of charge.”
Is everything alright at home, Michael? What’s this bizarre workhouse reminiscing about?
Meanwhile the Mail went with:
Free BBC if you live on Benefits Street… and paid for, naturally, by middle-class strivers under Labour plan.
Oh won’t somebody think of the middle class! That ‘article’ also includes a quote from the Taxpayer’s Alliance:
It’s absurd to squeeze middle-class taxpayers harder while floating new licence fee exemptions for benefit claimants.
Nah, what’s actually absurd is how these papers continue to paint middle-class people as the victims in a budget which will actually make life even harder for people on benefits.
The Sun took it to a poll. The Scum asks:
Would you be willing to pay for your favourite shows whilst millions get the fee subsidised?
Unsurprisingly, currently 86% of Sun readers say “no it’s not fair on everyone else”. But then, that’s what happens when your brain’s rotted by The Sun.
Even the supposedly liberal Independent went with:
The BBC’s latest comedy? Giving away TV licences for free
Again, another comment piece. This one reads:
you’d think those with its best interests at heart would be looking for ways to make it more money, not spray it around like confetti. That’s what makes the news that benefits claimants could receive free television licences under sweeping BBC reforms being considered by Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, so baffling.
What’s baffling to me is that this was written by James Moore, a disabled columnist. I honestly feel sad for anyone who could easily end up on benefits having so little compassion for others.
Finally, GB News went with:
Labour under fire over plans to hand FREE BBC licences to benefits claimants
The “fire” is apparently coming from the Shadow Culture Secretary Nigel Huddleston, who said:
It would be outrageous if people claiming benefits were given free TV licences while hard-working taxpayers foot the bill.
Right now, more than six million working-age people are on benefits, more than the population of Norway, yet the Government seems determined to reward inactivity rather than encourage work.
Under Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, this is exactly what is happening: while businesses and wealth creators are taxed more to keep the country running, some claimants could be getting free perks they don’t need.
Of course, don’t let the fact that most of us probably had to Google who Huddleston was stop you from hating benefits claimants.
Tories jump on the bandwagon
Speaking of completely insignificant, loaded Tory, Helen Whately had to get involved. She shared the Telegraph piece saying:
Another benefit hand out on the way.
Whately loves to shit on benefits claimants, even though she was once the Tory MP who claimed the most in housing expenses. She was pulled up for claiming £26,000 from the taxpayer between April and November 2020.
The most absurd comment however, came from a fucking baroness – Rachel Maclean:
People on benefits should not be watching TV. It rots their brain and saps their motivation to get a job or contribute to society.
Why can’t Labour see this?
Yep, that’s from an actual fucking baroness.
The corporate media don’t need an excuse to hate benefit claimants
But as usual, the shit rags are blowing this out of all proportion. The review is 92 pages long and changes for lower income households doesn’t come up until page 73.
Despite mentioning that Germany has concessions for people on benefits, the document doesn’t actually say Labour wants to do the same. The only thing it says that even slightly resembles ‘free tv licences for benefit scroungers’ is:
We will also consider whether there is potential for further targeted interventions, such as new concessions or payment schedules
The fact is the papers have taken this pretty fucking reasonable line and used it to spread hatred of benefits claimants again.
What’s clear here is that the right wing corporate media don’t need any encouragement to hate on benefit claimants. We saw how they used the budget to pit working people against benefit claimants. We’ve also had years of them demonising disabled benefits claimants to pave the way for harsher benefits cuts.
This is once again the problem of having a press that’s ran by billionaires. It’s never going to serve working-class people. But it will work as hard as it can to turn us all against each other, so we’re not looking up.
Featured image via the Canary
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