The BBC has become “a law unto itself”: IEA expert comments on the future of the BBC licence fee

1 Jun 2021 09:56 AM

Professor Philip Booth, Senior Academic Fellow at free market think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs and author of ‘New Vision: Transforming the BBC into a subscriber-owned mutual‘, commented on the future of the BBC licence fee

“The licence fee is an anachronism, and the BBC has become a law unto itself. It is funded via government and yet, quite rightly, not directly accountable to politicians.

“It should either be sold commercially or it should be owned as a mutual organisation by its subscribers. It would then be truly accountable to the people who chose to subscribe.”