I suppose it's a case of jumping into bed with any ally in a war, but I have to say that I find it a bit rich for Edmunds to refuse to pay his license when it was the license payers who made him a multi millionaire in the first place.
Respect for you Paddy, but not for that untalented prat, especially if he, unlike you, is breaking the law!
Tony, any idea what was happening in Merthyr tonight? On the way back from Abercraf today, we saw five ambulances heading for Merthyr, 2 mini-buses and 3 'real' ambulances. Is it the South Wales Ambulancemen's Ball tonight or something?!!!
Oh more than likely ours then, must have been a multi casualty RTC somewhere, and if only one was on blues, the others were probably and thankfully "walking wounded!"
I know nothing about the bloke, except that he's some kind of celeb. In fact, that's pretty much all I know about any kind of celebs... they're famous for being famous!
But... he may not be a criminal. I listened carefully and when the BBC interviewer asked if he was watching a TV, he was told simply that he'd cancelled his licence fee. It might be that he's chucked his TV out of the window, and doesn't need to pay any more. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and I'll be very interested to see how the BBC deals with it. During the day, they've altered their written report and managed to give it a bit of 'spin' of their own in quite a few places. They've slightly misrepresented what's actually been said, and if you didn't already know, the BBC actually employs private PR companies to put the right 'spin' on their TV Licensing stories. They don't come cheap either!
Incidentally, if one of the BBC doorsteppers turned up at your house, demanding to see your licence, you'd no doubt be able to grab the appropriate bit of paper and prove your innocence. Fair enough... but do you know the guy at the door gets paid £1.75 for that... which might take no more than two or three minutes of his time? OK, it might take longer if you can't remember where the damn thing is... but all the same... it's easy money. I've no idea how much Capita charges the BBC for processing the paperwork after the guy has seen your licence, but the guy himself gets £1.75, and you know where the money comes from? Yep... comes out of the licence fee! Let's say he can do ten houses in an hour like that... he earns £17.50 for an hour's work... and you pay for it!
It would seem that they make up the 'rules' as they go along. The BBC doorsteppers are supposed to visit houses on a worksheet that they're given, but there is plenty of hard evidence of them visiting houses that aren't on their worksheets. In Wales, one of the doorsteppers didn't even bother visiting houses, he just filled in a pile of forms himself, faking 'confessions', or 'interviews under caution', filed them at the Capita office and strolled off with £18 for each and every one! The first any of the householders knew about it was when they were summonsed to court. Of course, as a scam it was pretty pathetic, and the BBC's doorstepper was the one who ended up in court. But it just shows you that the rulebook has been thrown out of the window, and these guys are basically out of control.
Well heres one for you.Several months ago I was sitting at my brothers when the big knock knock came and he let the T.Vman in,my poor bro has lots of difficulties and I already pay his utiliti bills so after a few minutes I offered to pay his T.V license aswell,I gave my address and contact details and thought no more of it.
Months pass and im paying his bill monthly,not a problem until I get forwarded a bill for £531.15 from some mega shitty baliffs who have descended upon me .Ive received no letters of intention to prosecute so after a solicitor consultation I have to go to my local crown court to get the court judgement set aside as ive received no correspondence.Theres me in the flipping dock due to the lovely B.B.C. Anyway im a free man now and still paying two T.V licenses but if youre ever in that position be very wary.
I have just written to ceefax in reply to DJ of Dorset who writes, "Regarding Noel Edmonds' protest against the threatening attitude of the BBC, I can't understand what it has got to do with the BBC, because the licence fee is paid to the TV Licencing Authority,not to the BBC. It goes into the general exchequer along with all other taxes.
The BBC is a subsidised service paid for by the state and it does so happen that the subsidy is equal to the money collected but you will not see the BBC mentioned anywhere on the TV Licence."
They're good at this propaganda lark aren't they!
I bet my reply doesn't get televised on ceefax refuting as it does that complete load of twaddle above and the mention of Capita, its contractual associations and its dubious methods will just about put the voodoo on it I reckon.
TV Licensing are currently chasing 2 'licences' that I'm in correspondence with them about. One is for our old house that we moved from over a year ago - we bought a digibox for my father in law just before we moved and filled out our old address. I still get the mail forwarded to me and it's very cathartic to read the ridiculous bluster and know that the person they're sending it to doesn't exist
The other one is for my dead father, who still gets threatening letters. I live in hope that their doorsteppers turn up sometime when I'm actually over at the house clearing it out, as I'd love to have a bit of fun with them.
"Regarding Noel Edmonds' protest against the threatening attitude of the BBC, I can't understand what it has got to do with the BBC, because the licence fee is paid to the TV Licencing Authority,not to the BBC. It goes into the general exchequer along with all other taxes."
Actually... it has everything to do with the BBC. TV Licensing is a registered trademark, not an organisation. The Licensing Authority is the BBC, not some other organisation. The BBC doesn't want you to know any better, and in that respect, Offroad Shoe, they've succeeded with you! If youread the BBC Trust's notes about the review that's currently being inflicted on the BBC, you'll realise the true situation.
The bottom line is... the BBC doesn't want you to know!
Did you actually read what I wrote above Paddy? Reign in your ire just long enough to do that properly and you'll see what a twit you just made of yourself. Don't you remember what quotation marks mean? Since you are a writer, I think you should.
BTW, I made full use of all the information you have given us about the BBC and TVL in my reply to DJ of Dorset whose letter to ceefax I quoted in full. Geddit?
Just be aware that the BBC's hired thugs single out people who are struggling or vulnerable. They tend to pick on single mums and disabled people more than the rich bloke with the big security fence and rabid patrol dogs. For future reference, you don't have to open the door, you don't have to speak to them, you don't have to fill in forms and you certainly dont have to sign a confession. The BBC's hired thugs get £18 for every signed confession they can obtain. Without the signed confession, they can't get you to court, and if they can't get you to court, they can't fine you. Readings taken by the so-called 'detector' equipment cannot be used as evidence in court.
The BBC doesn't want you to know any of this... but do I care?
