martin wrote:
On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 00:28:24 -0000, "Mike Lyle"
wrote:
[...on broadcast licence fee...]
OT, I know. I've pondered this long and carefully for years and
years. It does seem an absurd method, and in very rare cases an
unjust one, but nobody's ever suggested a better way of funding
two
TV channels, four or even five world-class radio networks, the
best
website in the world, countless local radio stations, several
major
orchestras, a "big band", a major choir or more, huge quantitiies
of
material for schools and universities, and commissioning new
writing
and music like nobody else on the planet.

From the national budget like the Dutch do.

Yes, that's a possibility. But I fear it would inevitably lead to
political interference, and there's rather too much of that already.
It would also be less fair, as two-earner households would pay twice,
and presumably those without TV would then have to pay -- though I
suppose the present enforcement system could still be used to avoid
that, with yet another section to fill in on the income tax forms.

--
Mike.