Speaking during an Urgent Question on changes to the licence fee exemptions, programming and job losses at the BBC, Fay Jones MP highlighted the misrepresentation of farming in recent BBC programming and the impact plans to charge over 75s for a TV Licence will have on her constituents.
Miss Jones described recent BBC programming as portraying farming and the agriculture sector as "either twee and backward or environment-wrecking vandalism" and condemned this portrayal as "deeply wrong and misleading". Miss Jones regularly meets with farming organisations in her area and during these meetings members of the farming community in Brecon and Radnorshire have expressed their disappointment with the BBC.
Brecon and Radnorshire will be impacted heavily by the changes to the licence fee exemptions for over 75s, with over 12% of constituents no longer able to claim a free TV Licence. Fay Jones MP has previously written to Lord Hall, the then Director General of the BBC asking for plans to charge over 75s for their TV Licence to be suspended, citing the disproportionate impact of social distancing measures and shielding on the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, Miss Jones said that the recent announcement that the BBC will be moving forward with plans to abolish the free TV Licence for over 75s has left many in Brecon and Radnorshire feeling "deeply let down by the BBC".
Commenting on the exchange, Miss Jones said:
"The BBC must represent the whole of the United Kingdom, but recent programming has not accurately reflected the farming community in Brecon and Radnorshire and across the UK. Farmers in my constituency are some of the hardest working and most environmentally aware people I know. I have always said when it comes to tackling climate change; our farmers are a very small part of the problem and a huge part of the solution. BBC programming should reflect this reality.
"The free TV Licence for over 75s is a lifeline for many and an invaluable source of company for an age group which suffers high levels of loneliness and social isolation. To make this announcement at this time, when Age UK has found that older people have been feeling anxious, depressed and frightened due to the pandemic, is cruel and bitterly disappointing.
"In March I wrote to the then Director General Lord Hall asking him to reconsider the decision to abolish free TV Licences for over 75s. I was delighted that he agreed to postpone, but I am deeply disappointed that the decision has been reinstated. I urge the BBC to reconsider."