After receiving 154,737 responses to his consultation, Oliver Dowden says “the government remains concerned that a criminal sanction for TV licence evasion is increasingly disproportionate and unfair in a modern public service broadcasting system. The consultation responses showed that a significant number of people oppose the criminal sanction with some highlighting the considerable stress and anxiety it can cause for individuals, including for the most vulnerable in society, such as older people.” Sounds encouraging…

Unfortunately the BBC has conned the DCMS into considering “alternative enforcement schemes”, so whilst “the issue of decriminalisation will remain under active consideration” they are going try and figure out a way of coercing money out of people who don’t watch the BBC whilst avoiding the embarrassment of criminalising grannies and hard up single-mums. In other words, keep the twentieth century telly tax…