TV licence people wanting to open a 'full investigation'.

of course, I've watched TV for the General Election, Question Time and the like

How did you manage this, without live TV, recording it, or watching it on iPlayer, all of which require a License nowadays?

They're a shower of !!!!!!.

I haven't even moved into my new house, having spent the last 2 weeks decorating and tidying up the mess left by the previous owner and I've already got a 'this address isn't licensed, we'll be starting an investigation soon' letter through the door.

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

I think many fail to declare that they no longer require a TV license and therefore get chased for paying for one. There was a website with someone who documented all the letters he had received from TVL and I bet that he did not declare that he did not watch TV and did not require a TVL.

Superficially, it may seem like BBC/TVL/Capita have a legitimate process with some kind of legal backing and that certain people are just "being difficult" and "bringing it all upon themselves" by defying them, but none of that is actually true. Indeed no rational public body would respond in the way that BBC/TVL does even when faced with such "provocation".

In reality, BBC/TVL have no relevant legal authority for what they do with letters and doorstepping, and there is even legal provision against Public Authorities seeking entry to homes unless it is legally authorised and clearly justified (which this is not). If people are defying BBC/TVL then they are doing so within the law, and BBC/TVL need to respect that. There are also some wider questions of BBC/TVL's non-compliance with other aspects of the law such as PACE and the Data Protection Act.

Against that background (and this is neither MSE policy nor something I say lightly) I regard it as a social obligation not to concede to TVL's demands where they have no legal backing and indeed to stand up to the pseudo-organisation as best one can as an individual and collectively.

Ultimately, I think the country will dispense with the TV Licence. Its enforcement since 1991 (when the BBC took over) will be seen in hindsight as the greatest "official" hoax ever perpetrated upon the British Public.

Hopefully, at the same time, we will see sense more generally, and understand that no private commercial interest is capable of running law enforcement with the necessary degree of fairness, public interest and proportionality and that any potential cost savings are illusory, being swallowed up if/when a suitable regulatory regime is in place around the commercial operation.