‘My TV licence fee shouldn’t be used to compensate Donald Trump’

Rumour's

#DonaldTrump #JeffreyEpstein #BBCNews A petition urging the BBC not to compensate Donald Trump following his $1 billon legal threat has now passed over 45,000 signatures.  The Independent has spoken exclusively to Ian Fisher, who started the petition, arguing that any financial payment to Trump would be "inappropriate and against the ethos of public service broadcasting."  The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.  #DonaldTrump #JeffreyEpstein #BBCNews #TrumpEpstein #EpsteinControversy #TimDavie #bbcpanorama

Transcript

00:00As Donald Trump's $1 billion lawsuit threat towards the BBC looms, the dispute has spilled

00:06over to the public, leaving TV license fee payers questioning whether their money could

00:11land in the US president's pocket. The editing of Trump's 6th January 2021 speech in a Panorama

00:18program triggered the resignation of Director General Tim Davey and Head of News Deborah

00:23Ternus. Over 40,000 people have backed a petition to prevent the public-funded corporation

00:29from awarding Trump damages for the edit, labelling it as inappropriate and against the ethos

00:34of public service broadcasting, while demanding that any compensation paid should be refunded

00:40to the TV license payers. Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Ian Fisher, who started

00:46the petition, explained more about the growing frustration among BBC TV license payers.

00:52I don't get any value whatsoever from the BBC, but I do watch and record live TV, so therefore,

01:00by law, I'm required to pay that license fee. And therefore, any incident, any own goal,

01:08any open goal that BBC scores against themselves means that it's my money and other households'

01:14money that are paying for those old goals. I think it was just a frustration that made me start the

01:22petition. I didn't think, I expected a couple of hundred of like-minded people, well in excess of

01:2842,000, and shows that it's an important topic. The themes are around the impartiality of the BBC,

01:35they're worried about, you know, the fact that they have to pay it, and perhaps like me, they don't get

01:42any value from the BBC, and certainly not for the tune of £174.50 a year. On the one hand, for me,

01:51it seemed like another form of grifting for Donald Trump, but also, it also seems like an interference,

01:58an invasion into the impartiality of news media in the UK. I think the problem is that because of the

02:07Communications Act and the Royal Charter, and the fact that the BBC can follow non-payments up by

02:15criminal proceedings, and individuals can get a criminal record simply for not paying the TV license,

02:22I don't think there's any compulsion for them to do anything with the commercial responsibility.

02:31They just rely on the fact that they'll get the money regardless. It was literally flying a kite,

02:39making a point. Trump is making a speculative claim against the BBC, and getting the BBC,

02:51or suggesting that the BBC should refund, is literally the same principle. There's no commercial

02:58compulsion for them, but if we say give us the money back, it might make them think twice

03:06about reckless spending or reckless decision making. Despite the legal threat, Trump may face

03:14difficulties in suing the corporation over the documentary, partly because it may not have been

03:19aired in the United States. The BBC is expected to apologise to the US President, with the

03:25Corporations Board now seeking to appoint its next Director General. The BBC has been approached for comment.

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