[Livia]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Except that the two aren't really comparable; road tax is more like "road rent" as it pays for the upkeep of the roads and highways which, if you run a car, you will almost certainly be using. In fact if you're not - if you're only using your car on private land - then you DON'T need a tax disk.

The TV license is more akin to being forced to pay a £1 "milk tax" every time you go to the supermarket, whether you drink milk or not, so that everyone else can take their 2L milk bottle for free, because "most people drink milk".

I'm also unsire about your suggestion that "if you can afford a telly you can afford a license" - I could go on my local freecycling group right now and pick up 10 CRT televisions tomorrow for precisely £0.

The only people who should be paying for the BBC are the people who use the BBC and / or its broadcasting equipment. Period. If people don't want to pay a subscription charge for it - which should REALLY be less than £12 a month anyway - then there's no demand for the service and it simply shouldn't exist. And before people start bawling about Doctor Who - the intellectual rights to a show that successful would be snapped up by another network faster than you can say "fire-sale". The same goes for all successful BBC properties.

It's an outdated model. Broadcast television in general is on the way out in favour of on-demand services, and quite rightly. They're better. If the BBC was to switch to being an entirely on-demand, internet based service like Netflix tomorrow and charge a subscription fee, they would still make an absolute fortune.

I stand by my analogy. And yes, I understand if you drive your car on private land you don't need it to be taxed, but frankly that's got nothing to do with anything. Part of my Council Tax goes to street lighting and pavement upkeep. There are no street lights nor pavements where I live, but I still have to pay that part of the charge.

You currently have to have a licence if you watch the telly. That's the bottom line, despite your claim it's an outdated model. You can go and buy a cheap telly... but the fact is you will need a licence to watch it, like you need a your car taxed to drive it on the highway. Whichever way you spin it, if you watch the telly you must have a licence or you're breaking the law. I pay my licence and I resent people feeling like they should be entitled to get it for free.