London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Britons to REFUSE to hand over bank statements to BBC - 'Invasion of privacy!'

BRITONS have said they would not be comfortable providing their bank statements to the BBC, after it emerged TV Licensing offices gave over-75s the option of sending over a copy to prove they were exempt from the annual licence fee.

Following the BBC's decision to scrap free TV licence for the over-75s, which came into effect from August 1, it has emerged some pensioners were asked to send bank statements in the post to prove they were exempt from the £157.50 annual fee. Those who receive pension credit are exempt from paying the charge, and officials told some over-75s to send the private document to prove they receive the benefit.

The move has been heavily condemned, but the BBC said TV Licensing offices were not “actively seeking bank statements”.

In response to the measures, Express.co.uk asked its readers if they would be happy to send their bank statements in the post - and the overwhelming majority said no.

The poll, carried out from 4pm-10pm on August 2, asked: "Would you be happy to provide your bank statements to the BBC?"

A whopping 98 percent (5,494 people) of the 5,670 respondents voted "no", with just two percent (150 people) saying "yes".

Under one percent of respondents (26 people) voted "don't know".

Readers then to the comments to explain why they have voted against sending their bank statements in the post.

One person heavily condemned the move, and wrote: "This is an invasion of people's privacy, the only people who can ask to see our Bank statements are the Government, why don't they publish all BBC employees salaries so we can see where all the money from the TV tax goes that would be a better solution to the TV licence."

Another user agreed and said: "A better idea would be if we were to see the BBC employees and contractors incomes and see if they worth paying so much."

A third reader hit out at the measure as an "insult" and suggested those affected contact their MP.

They wrote: "This is an insult and expect illegal, I hope that the pensioners involved contact their MP.

"And, if any pensioner who sent such details is Fraud Attacked then the BBC should pay the amount of the fraud + a sum for the distress caused."

Many other readers suggested people should boycott the BBC and refuse to pay the annual sum.

One person said: "Boycott TV and save £157.50 a year."

Another wrote: "Support the pensioners by defunding the BBC, it's the only way they will listen."

A third simply wrote: "Do not pay it."

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re writing directly to over 75s households and they do not need to do anything until they have received a letter from us.

"This letter will clearly set out what the recipient needs to do next and offer accessible formats including for those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, as well as access to a text service.

"If older people don’t wish to leave their home or can’t go online, call centre staff will prioritise a verbal declaration process to identify if customers are in recipient of Pension Credit.

"We are also giving all over 75s plenty of time to either set up a payment plan or to claim a free licence if they are eligible.

"In either case, no one needs to leave their home.

"TV Licensing are not actively seeking bank statements – this is simply an option and we don’t expect to make very much use of it. The TV Licensing team take extreme care with personal data and have a wide range of measures in place to protect it.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×