Licence fee: Lisa Nandy rules out funding BBC from taxes

Nandy said: “There’s a whole range of alternatives, and we haven’t committed to any of them. I think the one that has been speculated about is general taxation.”

However, that is “not something that we’re considering” because “it’s important that we have free and fair broadcasting in this country that is able to hold the government to account”, she continued.

“But there is no question in my mind that the licence fee is not only insufficient, it’s raising insufficient money to support the BBC, but it also is deeply regressive.

“We’ve seen far too many women prosecuted over recent years for being unable to pay it, and it’s a flat fee that means that poorer people pay proportionately more than anybody else.

“That doesn’t help the BBC, it doesn’t help the government, and it doesn’t help people in this country, and so we make no apology for saying that we’re considering all options, and we’re thinking quite radically and creatively about how we future-proof our national broadcaster for many years to come.”

She added: “In other countries in Europe, they find different ways of raising money.

“In France, for example, they have a levy on cinemas. I’m not committing to any of these things at this stage.”