Three Conservative leadership candidates have pledged to ensure over-75s continue to receive free television licences if they become prime minister, even though this could result in further cuts to the BBC’s budget. The 2017 Conservative manifesto contained a pledge to maintain the benefit, even though the party later suggested this was a mistake made as a result of a copy-and-paste error. Older Britons overwhelmingly voted Conservative at the last general election and are overrepresented among the Tory members who will chose the next prime minister. However, neither gave any details on how the cost of providing the free licences would be met, suggesting it could involve loading the cost on to the BBC during a future funding agreement. The Conservative MP William Wragg said the Tories had been “quite categoric” about protecting free licences in their manifesto.

Source: The Guardian June 11, 2019 16:07 UTC