Keir Starmer keeping open mind on BBC licence fee axe
Addressing this, Culture Select Committee chair Dame Caroline challenged the Labour leader on the "regressive tax".
According to The Sun, when asked about the future of the licence fee yesterday, Keir Starmer said: 'We're going through the review and it'll obviously come to its conclusion, and we keep an open mind on what we need to do with the licence fee.
Keir Starmer said he was 'open-minded' about the future of the TV licence (Image: PA/Stefan Rousseau) "But we are working closely with the BBC.'
The TV licence is a fee paid by households that watch, record or stream any television transmissions at the same time they are being broadcast.
The fee was introduced in 1946, when TV broadcasting resumed in the aftermath of the Second World War.
This licence was originally issued by the General Post Office, which was the regulator of public communications in the UK at that time.
According to the TV Licensing website, the price of the fee changed last April, seeing the cost of a colour licence rise to £174.50 a year.
The annual cost of the much rarer black and white TV licence is just £58.50.
Those who are blind or severely sight-impaired can apply for a 50% concession on this, meaning the colour licence costs £87.25.
There are also a number of other concessions and arrangements available for people living in certain types of residential care and for over-75s receiving Pension Credit.
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Daily Mirror
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer showed visible 'discomfort' when Donald Trump addressed one topic
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Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Starmer joins Trump on Air Force One
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The flight will land at RAF Lossiemouth, due to Aberdeen Airport having too short a runway for the 747. It was the PM's second flight of the day, having arrived in Scotland from Switzerland, where he watched the Lionesses retain their Women's Euros title last night. Without any awkwardness about playing one mate off against the other the president used the hour-long televised bromantic encounter to tell the PM to cut taxes and stop 'murderers and drug dealers' from coming to Britain. While Sir Keir sat beside him with an impassive look on his face he also attacked subsidies for wind power and - gently - suggested he should back fresh drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea instead. He was full of praise for the Prime Minister and the way he was running the country, despite their ideological differences, saying Sir Keir was was 'liberal ..but not too liberal' in his approach. Mr Trump added: 'I think the one that's toughest and most competent on immigration is going to win the election, but then you add… low taxes, and you add the economy. '(Sir Keir) did a great thing with the economy, because a lot of money is going to come in because of the deal that was made. But I think that, I think that immigration is now bigger than ever before.' The president had earlier told Sir Keir Britain and the rest of Europe it must stop illegal immigration to avoid 'ruin' as the two leaders met in Scotland today. Mr Farage is not meeting Mr Trump during the visit. The American leader attacked Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan as a 'nasty person' and hailed both Sir Keir and Nigel Farage as 'great men' as the leaders took a series of questions across domestic and foreign affairs. The president also indicated that the US may not impose heavy tariffs on British pharmaceuticals, telling reporters that 'we certainly feel a lot better' about the UK working on drugs that will be sold in the States compared to other nations. The president had earlier said that he thinks Sir Keir, who has been in office for more than a year, will be 'a tax cutter.' The president had earlier spoken out as he met Sir Keir and Lady Victoria on the clubhouse steps at his Ayrshire golf course. During the president's 'working holiday' in the country of his mother's birth he spoke to reporters as bagpipes played in the background. He spoke out about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza - which the leaders will discuss further - and had criticism for Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war. But he also addressed the wider issue of immigration facing Europe he added that it was becoming a 'different place' - and praised Sir Keir for taking a strong stance against it. 'This is a magnificent part of the world, and you cannot ruin it, you cannot let people come here illegally,' the president said. 'And what happens is there'll be murderers, there'll be drug dealers, there'll be all sorts of things that other countries don't want. 'They send them to you and they send them to us and you've got to stop them and I hear you've taken a very strong stand on immigration. And taking a strong stand on immigration is imperative.' The latest data from the Home Office indicates that 122 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday. Security was tight at Turnberry as they discussed how to continue putting into place the US-UK trade deal they signed earlier this year, as well as the Middle East crisis. They met on the steps of the clubhouse while a bagpiper playing loudly in the background, with the president saying Sir Keir was going a 'great job'. He also said he did not mind Sir Keir 'taking a position' on Palestinian statehood, though he said he would not do so himself. The president rejected Israel's claim there is 'no starvation' in Gaza, saying that images of famine in the occupied territory could not be fake. He said Gaza was 'a mess' ahead of talks about the deepening humanitarian crisis. They piled pressure on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday insisted 'there is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza' Images and warnings of starvation emerging from Gaza in recent days have piled pressure on the Israeli government over its conduct in the conflict. But Trump called for food to be allowed into Gaza immediately. He said he was not convinced by the Israeli denials, adding: 'That's real starvation stuff... and you can't fake that.' The PM, who was due to present to Mr Trump a UK-led plan to bring peace to the Middle East, added it was an 'absolute catastrophe'. Sir Keir held crisis talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the weekend. Britain is working with Jordan to airdrop aid into Gaza and evacuate children needing medical assistance, with military planners deployed for further support.
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
How is Windsor preparing for Donald Trump's visit?
US President Donald Trump has met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his Turnberry golf course on his visit to just over a month, the President will be hosted by King Charles III in Windsor, Berkshire, as part of his second state visits include a major security operation - but what sort of planning goes into visits like this? Preparation Former Police Chief Tim Brain, who has handled plenty of visits like this before, told BBC Radio Berkshire that preparation for the visit would have started like many others - with a huge, detailed risk assessment."That is both in terms of security, general security, physical security, but also very basic things like traffic and health and safety that all have to go off very, very smoothly," he said. A planning team responsible for this would have been put in place as soon as the visit was announced, he said."All forces have got their own operations departments that are there to deal with major events," he said."Inside the force, the planning... would have started with getting the right people in place."He said they would also put together "a large operational order" alongside the risk assessment."It will be many pages thick, that covers every aspect of this in terms of planning, location and timing," he said. 'Jigsaw' operation Mr Brain said the security operation would involve coordinating both with the President's security teams, as well as protocols in place for the heads of state he was meeting."Any president of the United States is going to have a very, very high profile - this one perhaps more so than most - and of course they come with their own physical security teams," he said."The responsibility for the security of the President comes with the secret service of the United States, and they don't absolve themselves of that responsibility, so there will be very closely liaison between the secret service and the host force."This combined with King Charles III's own security meant it had to be a "closely interlocked operation", he said."There'll just be so many jigsaw pieces in the puzzle that have to fit together and that's another one of them," he said. Protest planning Another thing that needs to be considered as part of the plan is the possibility of protests taking place, like those that have taken place in Edinburgh, Mr Brain said."Many state visits will come with that element of it now, because even if a protest group has no connection with the principal involved, they may nevertheless take the opportunity that a high profile event like this creates," he said there was often an open dialogue between the police and protest organisers."There'll be liaison between the protest organisers and the police leads on this, so that they can have a plan about where they can stand, what they can say, what they can do, what they can show," he said."Trying to get the balance right between allowing peaceful protest, which is a right that we all have, and maintaining public order and safety will be a key dynamism in the operation." Whilst a security operation like this would be a "challenge", Mr Brain said it was one that police officers would rise to."They will enjoy the opportunity to do something as big and as comprehensive as this," he said."This is going to be a buzz... it will be stressful, but that's what they're there for. " You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
