SO the BBC want to raise the licence fee yet again, and once again this feeble excuse for a Government will probably let them.

The thing I do not understand is that they are so against advertising, it's hardly going to effect the quality of programming is it? We are currently being treated to re-runs of Dad's Army, Are You Being Served and re-hashes of the racist Alf Garnett (I cannot begin to understand how in the climate, the BBC can get away with this. It isn't even remotely funny and never was). What next? It Ain't Half Hot Mum or The Black and White Minstrel Show?

The last good things the BBC did were One Foot In The Grave and the three-part Michael Palin series, everything else has been atrocious.

Given the choice, I would rather the BBC stopped transmitting to me and stopped charging me an extortionate licence fee. I also feel that a high percentage of the population would do the same thing.

Why should the BBC get all the licence fee? Channel Four make excellent TV yet get no percentage of licence fees, all their income comes from advertising.

It's high time the Beeb realised that the public cannot continue to pay for rubbish, although this Government, like the last one, seem to think that adding small amounts or inventing new bills is a perfectly acceptable practice. Airport tax was one and it now looks as though we are going to get fire bills. Funny, I thought I paid that one in with my council tax.

Damian Robinson, Doulton Street, West Park.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.