Licence to Con

It behoves me to check my junk box each week. It currently houses thirteen emails pretending to be from TV Licensing, threatening this or that because my license has expired, and would I mind entering my details to offer rectification? They are easy to spot and so each has been reported and blocked. Then, around the same time, the real TV Licensing people contacted me through the post, in a serious-looking red envelope. In the past few days, I have carelessly allowed a few tea cups to accumulate on my desk, and, for want of coasters, the red envelope had proved useful, the ring marks testifying to its availability. It is a genuine letter of course, yet it, too, is essentially fake (threatening with legal action people who do not use its services) and a con (offering access to an impartial and high-quality broadcaster, the BBC). The Daily Express reported this year:

The BBC is facing one of the most severe funding crises in its history, following new figures that revealed licence fee cancellations and evasion cost the broadcaster over £1 billion last year, despite a major escalation in enforcement efforts. The corporation's latest annual report shows that enforcement teams made approximately two million home visits in 2024-25, a 50% increase from the previous year. However, the results suggest diminishing returns, as the BBC noted that people are increasingly reluctant to answer the door, thereby limiting its ability to pursue unpaid fees.

Some fear that His Majesty's Government shall replace the current license with a universal ‘internet fee’ or an  increase in income tax which would once again guarantee its woke, liberal staff another generous revenue stream without having to improve the morality, quality and truthfulness of their output. The red-enveloped letters might have fewer typos than their emailed equivalents, but both are seeking to line the pockets of dishonest time-wasters. It is a sorry state of affairs when I, someone inclined to value traditional, British institutions, longs for their demise. 

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Deuteronomy 33:29