Daily Telegraph columnist Charles Moore reveals in the paper today that he was cautioned by TV licensing enforcers after he refused to pay the annual fee in protest at Jonathan Ross remaining employed by the BBC in the wake of the "Sachsgate" affair.
Moore writes: "I have twice been visited by enforcement officers from TV Licensing. On the second occasion, shortly before Christmas, they claimed the right to caution me (though they have no legal powers, and are merely employees of a private contractor called Capita). Then they noted down what I had to say about why I would not pay the fee, warned me that I might be laying myself open to prosecution, and left.
"What should I do now? In July last year, when my licence came up for renewal, I wrote to Carl Shimeild, the operations director of TV Licensing, to explain my refusal to pay. “If the BBC terminates Ross’s contract,” I said, “I shall pay my licence fee.” I shall stick to that. Ross is leaving the BBC in July this year, so at that point, but not before, I shall renew. It will be amusing to see if the enforcement bureaucracy pays any attention to what is happening, or just plugs on, chasing me for my “year out”.
Despite Ross leaving the BBC, Moore remains on the attack, claiming that "everyone can see now" that BBC Director-General Mark Thompson "is not worth his £800,000 salary".
They aren't likely to prosecute Charles Moore because he'd give a vocal opposition, probably electing to go to court to express his views.
ReplyDeleteIt's much easier (and preferable) for them to prosecute the unemployed, low income and single parent families and forgetful pensioners. Indeed that's where they focus their attention, which tells you a lot about them as an organisation.
The truth of the matter is they're pretty impotent unless they catch you red-handed in the act of watching TV in an unlicensed property. Plus there a plenty of legitimate reasons to have a TV and not require a licence.
i have just had an unpleasant phone call from them ,the jobsworth lady stated i was behind on my payments by 39 pounds she then asked me what paypoint i would be using as she would now be monitoring my payments and if i fail to pay she would have no choice but to refer me to a debt collecting agency.
ReplyDeleteI must point out that i have paid my licence fee up to april 2010 this so called debt is for my licence not yet due,i informed her of this and said she was wrong to make such threats and she could get back to me when it was due to be renewed if she did,nt like it she could take me to court.
How can they threaten people like this