Rachel Johnson Says Free TV Licences Are "Luxury Pensioners Can Afford"
26 August 2019, 16:00 | Updated: 27 August 2019, 06:59
Rachel Johnson has said that free TV licences are "possibly a luxury that pensioners can afford" whilst debating with the Charity Director of Age UK.
In a debate with the Charity Director of Age UK, Caroline Abrahams, the LBC presenter claimed that many pensioners could afford a TV licence, but thinks it is unfair for the BBC to have to pay for them.
She said: "What about the majority of pensioners who can afford to pay for their licence?
"What I hear you saying Caroline is that pensioners shouldn't pay, but the taxpayer probably should."
Ms Abrahams argued that the plans to scrap the free TV licence were not what they seemed.
She said: "We know that significant numbers of older people are living on a low income.
"The BBC has decided that the way it wants to go forward is to mean-test the TV licence, so in theory the poorest don't actually have to buy one.
"That all sounds fine, but the problem is that in order to get your free licence you'll have to show the BBC that you're on a benefit called Pension Credit.
"The difficulty here is that two in five of all the older people right across the UK, who are entitled to that benefit, don't actually get it."
