BBC Trust

There is absolutely no way of enforcing the withdrawal of free television licenses from the over-75s. This is the end of the licence fee.

The decriminalisation of nonpayment would be a good start, but following the introduction of the Universal Basic Income, then that fee ought to be made voluntary, with as many adults as wished to pay it at any given address free to do so, including those who did not own a television set but who greatly valued, for example, Radio Four.

The Trustees would then be elected by and from among the licence-payers. Candidates would have to be sufficiently independent to qualify in principle for the remuneration panels of their local authorities. Each licence-payer would vote for one, with the top two elected.

The electoral areas would be Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and each of the nine English regions. The Chairman would be appointed by the relevant Secretary of State, with the approval of the relevant Select Committee. And the term of office would be four years.

One would not need to be a member of the Trust (i.e., a licence-payer) to listen to or watch the BBC, just as one does not need to be a member of the National Trust to visit its properties, or a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to be rescued by its boats.