Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Britain freezes BBC funding for next two years

Britain freezes BBC funding for next two years

THE UK government on Monday (17) announced a freeze of the BBC licence fee, arguing a new funding model was needed to ease cost of living pressures and reflect a transformed media landscape.

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries told parliament the £159 annual fee, paid by every television set owner in the country, would be fixed for the next two years. After that it will rise in line with inflation for four years, she said, saying the rising annual cost of the compulsory charge was hurting cash-strapped families. The long-term future of the corporation should not depend on a system which criminalises non-payers, she added.


But opposition parties linked the move to efforts to keep prime minister Boris Johnson in a job, by offering "red meat" to BBC critics, due to anger at lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street.

Labour media spokeswoman Lucy Powell said monthly payments for the licence fee were small change compared to proposed Tory annual tax increases and soaring energy bills totalling thousands of pounds.

"Is the licence fee really at the heart of the cost of living crisis or is this really about their long-term vendetta against the BBC?" she asked

"It's at the heart of Operation Red Meat to stop the prime minister becoming dead meat," she added, referring to a proposed government fight-back plan of populist measures to boost Johnson's standing.

Critics accused Johnson loyalist Dorries, who leaked details of the plan on Twitter last Sunday (16) night after a torrid week for the prime minister, of "cultural vandalism", wrecking a world-renowned British institution.

Dorries said discussions about the future of the funding model from 2028 will start "shortly", but change was needed because of evolving media consumption and technological advances.

"This is 2022, not 1922. We need a BBC that is ready to take the challenges of modern broadcasting, a BBC that will continue to engage the British public and that commands support from across the breadth of the UK, not just the London bubble, a BBC that can thrive alongside Netflix and Amazon Prime and all of its other challenges which attract younger viewers."

BBC chairman Richard Sharp and director-general Tim Davie said they were disappointed at the move, warning it would hit British cultural industries and "necessitate tougher choices which will impact licence fee payers".

More For You

BSF

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel stand guard at the India-Bangladesh border in Fulbari BOP (Border outpost) on the outskirts of Siliguri, India on May 9, 2025.

Getty Images

HRW says India unlawfully expelling Bengali Muslims to Bangladesh

INDIA has expelled hundreds of ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslims to Bangladesh without following due process, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday, accusing the government of violating rules and targeting Muslims.

The government of prime minister Narendra Modi has maintained a strict stance on immigration, particularly from neighbouring Bangladesh. Top authorities have previously referred to migrants as "termites" and "infiltrators".

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer and Modi

Prime minister Keir Starmer welcomes Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday, July 24, 2025.

Reuters

India-UK trade pact sets path for future deals with EU, US

INDIA's trade agreement with the UK marks a shift towards opening its markets while protecting key sectors, and could serve as a model for future deals, government officials and analysts said on Friday.

The deal, signed on Thursday and described by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as "a blueprint for our shared prosperity", is India’s largest strategic partnership with an advanced economy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi concludes UK visit with 'green gesture' to King Charles

King Charles meets the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, during an audience at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Aaron Chown/Pool via REUTERS

Modi concludes UK visit with 'green gesture' to King Charles

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi wrapped up a landmark visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday (24), which saw the signing of the long-awaited India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) and a symbolic meeting with King Charles III focused on environment, health and shared traditions.

In the meeting at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, Modi presented the King a sapling from his environmental campaign Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam (One Tree for Mother), an initiative that encourages planting a tree in honour of one’s mother.

Keep ReadingShow less
Prime minister, Keir Starmer (C), and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (opposite the PM) meet the families of the young girls

Prime minister, Keir Starmer (C), and deputy prime minister Angela Rayner (opposite the PM) meet the families of the young girls murdered in the Southport attack at 10, Downing Street on June 10, 2025 in London, England.

Getty images

Southport tensions rise amid UK anti-immigrant unrest fears

CONCERN is mounting in Britain that recent violent anti-immigrant protests could herald a new summer of unrest, a year after the UK was rocked by its worst riots in decades.

Eighteen people have now been arrested since protests flared last week outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in the town of Epping, northeast of London and seven people have been charged, Essex police said late Thursday (24). In one demonstration, eight police officers were injured.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sadiq Khan

Khan has welcomed the UK-India trade deal, calling it a major boost for London's economy and business opportunities.

Kate Green/Getty Images

Sadiq Khan welcomes UK-India trade deal

LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan has welcomed the UK-India trade deal, calling it a boost for the capital's economy.

“I’m delighted that the Government has signed this historic trade deal with India, delivering a £310m boost for London’s economy and creating opportunities for business in the capital and across the UK,” Khan said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less