A Bit About Criminal Prosecutions and Conservative Cant
Criminal Prosecutions
One Should Not Accept the Conservatives Self-Serving Cant
NOTE TO READER: - This page needs up dating.
Amelia Gentlemen writing in the Guardian 24th September 2014 (a bit old now but it gets the facts across)
“A day in court for non-payment of the TV licence: ‘What do they want us to do, kill ourselves?’ “
“Almost 200,000 people were prosecuted last year for failing to buy a television licence. Should those who can’t afford to pay their bills be criminalised in this way?”
What becomes apparent from reading the article and other articles on the same subject is two things: -
The cuts in benefits by the Conservative party have resulted in a number of people not being able to afford food and clothing let alone the license fee. Unfortunately, Food Banks do not issue BBC licenses but perhaps they could look to do so in the future.
Conservative MPs are using the criminal prosecutions of defaulters as a way to attack the BBC and the license fee because “the debate about television licensing is politically charged, with some Conservative MPs, who dislike the notion of a state-funded broadcaster, finding unexpected reserves of compassion for the way the current system criminalises “some of the poorest in our society”. But cross-party sympathy for the idea of decriminalisation is emerging.”
My view is everyone should be able to afford to watch the BBC and the Government should pay the license fee for those on benfits.
This is unlikely to happen because the Conservative government had forced the BBC to give free licenses to the over 75's so the Government did not have to pay for them.
One has to remember that these bleeding heart Conservatives expressing sympathy for “some of the poorest” in our society are the very people who have made the defaulters some of the poorest in our society. If the bleeding heart Conservative Party passed a law saying the Government would pay the TV license fee for the poorest in our society on benefits then the problem would be solved. The Government could easily afford to do this if they stopped wasting billions of pounds of tax payers’ money on amongst other things PFI and failed IT projects.
In my experience, the magistrates courts who hear the cases are helpful, sympathetic and understanding in their approach and look to impose penalties the defaulter can afford to pay. It is very rare that any one is sent to prison for none payment of the penalties and it only happens in extreme cases of default. However, the way the Conservative Party portrays the matter one would think people of all ages were being dragged away from in front of their televisions and thrown directly into prison by BBC heavies.
Another problem within the court system was caused by the Government imposed financial levy imposed on license fee defaulters and anyone else who appears before the Court and is found guilty. This was overturned by Michael Gove (in November 2015).
It is very sad to say that the people interviewed for the Guardian article do not come across as worldly and well educated. In itself this is an indictment of both the Labour and the Conservative governments’ education policies over many years.
I did find a modicum of wry blackish humour in the chap quoted in the article who having paid for Sky did not see why he had to pay for the BBC license fee as well.
It appears the Conservative Party argument for de-criminalisation runs along the following lines: -
the license fee payment arrangement is very complicated and some people do not understand if they have to pay or not and so do not pay or do not think they have to pay and so they should not be prosecuted because they did not understand if they had to pay or not and so the matter should be de-criminalised.
Before court proceedings are taken the BBC write to people explaining the payment rules and the law and they are given the opportunity of buying a license or not watching the BBC live. The license fee can be paid by monthly instalments. If the defaulter persists in ignoring the law they are taken to court. They get a fine if it is found they broke the law and the fine reflects their savings and income. They are given time to pay the fine. If they do not pay the fine then and only then might they go to prison for none payment of the fine.
I do not understand the tax system. It is complicated and confusing. I am not sure if I even have to pay tax because I am retired. So I have decided I am not going to pay any tax. I take it I will not be pursued for any tax and imprisoned for not paying any because I do not understand the tax system.
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