Lisa Nandy is right to axe BBC licence prosecutions – mums are easy pickings for TV inspectors

Scarred by her aboriginal acquisition with a TV Licensing inspector, Mirror columnist Siobhan McNally supports Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's program to halt the 1,000 prosecutions a week of mostly women caught astatine location with their kids watching telly without a BBC licence

I utilized to babysit for a azygous mum with 3 kids erstwhile I was a teen successful the 1980s. One time we were each watching He-Man connected the telly and her youngest son, Joe, was moving astir doing his “By the powerfulness of Grayskull” content erstwhile the beforehand doorbell went.

I answered it, and froze with fearfulness erstwhile I realised it was a TV licence inspector and his clipboard.

My precocious Irish dada utilized to prohibition america from opening our beforehand doorway erstwhile the census takers were successful town, and ever refused to “answer their imperialist questions”. But connected our North London estate, astir families couldn’t spend a licence, truthful the TV inspector was the bogeyman.

When 1 of their vans was spotted connected the street, the connection went astir and everyone turned their tellies down and closed the curtains.

My skint person Carol mostly paid maine successful ciggies and Caramac bars erstwhile connected the uncommon juncture I looked aft her small ones if she had to spell to a infirmary appointment. I was mortified that I mightiness person got her successful occupation with her Radio Rentals TV set, and conscionable babbled astir it not being my house.

I don’t deliberation Carol ever answered her doorway ever again successful lawsuit they came backmost with a warrant!

Over the years I’ve despaired astatine rising numbers of women ending up successful jailhouse for non-payment of their TV licence fines. Nearly 1,000 radical are prosecuted each week for not paying their fee, and astir 75% of those convicted for evasion are female, chiefly due to the fact that they’re mums astatine location with kids and are casual pickings.

Now yet Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is considering axing BBC TV licence interest prosecutions arsenic idiosyncratic successful authorities has yet spotted that women are unfairly and disproportionately targeted.

If they couldn’t spend a TV licence successful the archetypal place, it’s a no-brainer they can’t spend a £1,000 fine. And so, our women’s jails are afloat of susceptible women – 70% of them person been domestically abused – serving sentences for petty crimes similar nonaccomplishment to marque their children be schoolhouse successful unsafe places wherever up to 24% of pistillate inmates self-harm. Simply put, nonaccomplishment to wage fines, immoderate fines, should ne'er beryllium a custodial condemnation successful a modern-day Clink gaol.

Just this week, I was listening to a menacing reminder advert connected BBC Radio to scare students into getting their parents to wage for their TV licence, which seems a spot unnecessary arsenic young radical mostly ticker YouTube and streaming services now.

I don’t privation to spot the TV licence interest scrapped due to the fact that arsenic a regular BBC Radio listener and spectator of iPlayer, I americium blessed to wage the yearly licence interest each year. It works retired astatine £14 monthly which is overmuch much costly than different streaming services similar Netflix astatine £4.99, but I inactive deliberation it offers bully value.

I similar to ticker TV that isn’t afloat of adverts and immoderate your politics, the Beeb does its champion to stay impartial. You tin tell, due to the fact that radical from some close and near impeach it of being biased, which means it indispensable beryllium doing thing right.

However, 1 look astatine our Mirror postbag and each the letters from pensioners who thin to ticker much daytime TV than maine (although I did my just stock arsenic a pupil and tin recite the full household histrion of Sons and Daughters) tells maine that not everybody is truthful blessed with the programming.

Many readers kick that these days it’s afloat of repeats, and 1 wag adjacent wrote, “If I’m paying to ticker aureate oldies, tin I besides wage the vintage terms of a TV licence from backmost past too?”

Well, I’d happily ticker repeats of Ronnie Barker’s Porridge and Open All Hours if it meant the BBC’s subject arm, TV Licensing, didn’t casually criminalise truthful galore women and unit them to bash porridge.

• Siobhan appears regular successful the Mirror’s Community page.