BBC LICENCE FEE - SPECIAL PLEADING

The BBC's Director-General's article Leave our licence fee

alone (Times, February 24) sounds like special pleading,

not only for the BBC, but also for the entire broadcasting industry,

He suggests that all broadcasters are in danger of being

nationalised, which is clearly preposterous.

Lord Hall's supplication will be viewed with a sense of irony by

the BBC's commercial competitors. The Corporation's existence

relies not on creative output, but on legally-enforced licence-fee

payers' contributions. A significant proportion of the £3.6bn

budget is channeled into the corporation's generous pension

fund. Some 200 people are currently imprisoned for

non-payment of the licence fee.

Lord Hall makes the absurd assertion that top-slicing means

less funding for content we know and love. This does not

reflect the reality of endless old repeats, quiz shows and the

admitted political bias of an institution that has clearly lost its way.

The BBC should return to its core values of its founder, Lord

Reith, as a disinterested, public-service broadcaster,

informing and educating, rather than chasing meaningless

ratings in competing with its commercial rivals.

This calls for a fundamental restructuring of the Corporation,

reducing the global reach of its output, shrinking its

bureaucracy and putting more of its licence fee into

delivering balanced, high-quality news and documentary

programmes.

.

LOWER TAXES, HIGHER REVENUES

Commnetators are right to suggest that we may be

approaching a tipping-point, where raising taxes
becomes counter productive.

Evidence suggests that there is an inverse
relationship between the tax rate and the amount
of revenue collected. The higher the tax rate the
lower the Government's revenue In making the
case for lower taxes, we need only look to the
Russian Federation, following the demise of the
Soviet Union in

1991. In order to invigorate a sclerotic economy,
the introduction of a flat tax resulted in a 25% rise
in revenue from personal income tax, followed by
a similar increase in the second year and 15% in
year three.

The Laffer curve predicts such an outcome,
attributing the primary reason for increased
revenues to higher levels of economic growth,
stemming from the introduction of the flat tax. If
the UK Government were to adopt this model it

would also benefit the exchequer by increasing
declared income and reducing bureaucracy by
simplifying the way tax is calculated and collected.

 A flat tax would have a transformative effect on
employers and employees alike. It would
incentivise, generate growth, boost consumer
confidence and raise living standards.

 

TO SMOKE OR NOT TO SMOKE

 

King James 1 observed the perils of smoking over

four hundred years ago: A custom loathsome to
the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain
and dangerous to the lungs, nearest resembling
the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is
bottomless. Nothwithstanding that smokling kills
at least 100,000 a year and harms countless others,
the debate on the freedom to cause premature death
and incapacity will doubtless continue.