For those who’re on modest means, the cost of the licence fee going up by £5 on 1 April of all days is a bit of a bad joke.
Certainly, for residents at St Crispin Retirement Village, it’s hard to see the funny side.
Among them is 83-year-old Stan Fritton who, since last November, has been embroiled in a battle over how much he and his neighbours should be paying for the BBC.
Their accommodation coming under one roof, they previously paid £7.50 each, qualifying for an accommodation for residential care (ARC) licence.
They then turned a former storage room into one of two spaces for visitors to stay the night and were told by post they’d contravened the TV Licensing Act.
Letters demanding residents pay full price started turning up addressed to almost 100 of the residents.
Image: Stan Fritton, 83
As Mr Fritton puts it they were “being sent to 95-year-old widows [who are] seeing something that says investigation with a big stamp and what have you… it’s frightened them to death.”
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He says demands for payments have even been sent to those with dementia.
“They’re not listening and they’re choosing not to listen,” he says of interactions with TV Licensing.
While Mr Fritton says the retirement village’s managers have now shut the room and will be reapplying to get the licence back, he is adamant they haven’t broken any rules but can’t get an officer to come out to see that the room isn’t a dwelling.
Resignedly his main frustration is that: “They’re choosing to antagonise residents here needlessly.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for TV Licensing said they “continue to liaise with the managers of St Crispin’s… and hope to have this matter resolved as soon as possible.”
Price rises to £174.50
How the BBC collects its money is an issue that extends way beyond one retirement village.
Under the current BBC charter, prices will now rise for the next two years based on inflation. It was £169.50, from today it is now £174.50.
Of course, maybe that’s OK if we’re getting more of what the BBC does best but the corporation’s income is down £1bn a year in real terms compared to its funding in 2010.
Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky recently gave a written statement to parliament on how the second series of his acclaimed drama was very nearly canned because the financing in public service broadcasting is “insufficient to make high-end TV drama”.
Image: The producer of Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, Patrick Spence
‘I think we are in real trouble’
But it’s even a tough time for those public sector broadcasters who rely on advertising – the producer of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Patrick Spence, telling Sky News he wouldn’t even pitch the drama now in the current commissioning climate.
“I do want to say I think we need to pay the sub postmasters first before we then turn our attention to television – let’s get our priorities right – but yeah I think we are in real trouble – there is a form of British television story telling that is going down if it is not supported.”
While some reports have claimed the government is looking to find a way to put a levy on streaming services, the Department for Culture has previously said they “do not comment on speculation” – not ruling it out.
Image: Former BBC News controller and government communications director, Sir Craig Oliver
‘Lots of people are saying it’s a very dated system’
As a former BBC News controller and government communications director, Sir Craig Oliver has seen licence fee negotiations from both sides.
He says: “I think everybody has come to the conclusion, including privately the BBC, that they have to come up with another model.
“I think that there will probably be some element of the licence fee still existing, but it may be that there are subscription models on top of that.
“The problem with all of that, of course, is that the devil is in the detail… how do you make sure that people aren’t hacking in? Lots of people are saying it’s a very dated system.”
This year the BBC says it’s launching its “biggest ever public engagement exercise so audiences can help… shape [the corporation]”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The public cares about the BBC… We want to continue to reform and evolve and look forward to engaging with government on the next Charter and securing the long-term future of the BBC.”
But with seemingly little or no consensus over how that future might be funded, the only certain thing for now is that it’ll mean households being switched on to licence fee prices going up this year, next year and the one after that.
Paul Gallagher, the older brother of Oasis stars Noel and Liam, has been charged with multiple offences including rape.
The Metropolitan Police said Gallagher, 59, of East Finchley, north London, has been charged with rape, coercive and controlling behaviour, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of making a threat to kill and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The offences are reported to have taken place between 2022 and 2024. The charges follow an investigation which began last year, the force added in a statement.
A woman is being supported by specially-trained officers, the statement continued.
Paul Gallagher, who is about one year older than Noel and seven years older than Liam, has never been involved in Oasis.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 August.
Gregg Wallace has spoken about his sacking from MasterChef after inappropriate behaviour while working for the BBC – but insisted he is “not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher”.
Wallace, 60, has apologised after a report, commissioned by the cooking show’s production company Banijay UK, found 45 out of 83 allegations were substantiated.
In an interview with The Sun, he said: “I know I have said things that offended people… I understand that now – and to anyone I have hurt, I am so sorry.
“I don’t expect anyone to have any sympathy with me but I don’t think I am a wrong ‘un.”
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Torode, who insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident, has not had his contract for the show renewed.
Wallace has now defended Torode, saying: “I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist.
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“There is no way that man is a racist. No way. And my sympathies go out to John because I don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through.”
Image: Gregg Wallace has defended his former MasterChef co-host John Torode (left). File pic: PA
At one point, Wallace became tearful during the interview when describing the impact of the investigation on his family.
“I have seen myself written about in the same sentence as Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards, paedophiles and sex offenders. That is just so, so horrific.”
In respect to the specific allegation of unwanted touching, Wallace denied groping a woman and said that, while he was attempting to flirt with her, he did believe the contact it was consensual.
“She gave me her phone number. I considered that to be intimacy. It was 15 years ago. Me, drunk, at a party, with my hand on a girl’s bum,” he said.
He also accepted he had briefly appeared with a sock on his private parts in front of four colleagues in MasterChef studio. But he said his is not a flasher, and people were either “amused or bemused” but not distressed.
On the broader allegations about using inappropriate language, Wallace accepted the criticism and suggested that some of his conduct could be explained by his autism and his background.
“I know I am odd. I know I struggle to read people. I know people find me weird. Autism is a… registered disability. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”
He also blamed his former career: “I’m a greengrocer from Peckham. I thrived in Covent Garden’s fruit and veg market. In that environment that is jovial and crude. It is learned behaviour.”
Wallace told the newspaper he is now scared to appear in public: “I go out now in a disguise – a baseball cap and sunglasses, I don’t want people to see me. I’m scared.”
On Wednesday, the BBC confirmed a series of MasterChef filmed last year, before allegations against presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode were upheld, will still be broadcast.
The company at the centre of a viral video at a Coldplay concert has released a tongue-in-cheek clip on social media – featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as a “temporary spokesperson”.
Astronomer was thrust into the spotlight after two of the tech firm’s senior executives were filmed embracing on a kiss cam during a gig in Boston.
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Tech boss resigns after viral Coldplay concert video
Paltrow, who used to be married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, is seen sitting at a desk in the new video uploaded to X – and begins by thanking the public for their interest in Astronomer.
She adds: “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer.
“Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days – and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
A question is then typed out on the screen that reads: “OMG, what the actual…”
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Before the final word appears, the video cuts back to Paltrow, who goes on to promote some of the services Astronomer offers.
In a subtle nod to the countless column inches the company has attracted, Paltrow adds: “We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation.”
Another question then pops up on screen, which begins to type out: “How is your social media team holding up?”
But before the sentence fully appears, Paltrow abruptly interrupts by declaring that Astronomer has spaces at an upcoming conference in September.
“We’ll now be returning to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers,” she adds at the end of the video.
The marketing stunt is a sign that Astronomer is trying to put a positive spin on the scandal, which sparked feverish speculation online.
After Mr Byron resigned, the company had said in a statement: “Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
Pete DeJoy, who has taken over as interim CEO, admitted on Monday that the company has faced an “unusual and surreal” amount of attention in recent days.
On LinkedIn, he wrote: “While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”