Newslinks for Wednesday 17th December 2025

Free BBC if you live on Benefits Street

“Benefit claimants could receive free television licences under sweeping BBC reforms being considered by Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary. A government review of the BBC’s Royal Charter, published on Tuesday, said that more than half of poorer households did not keep up with their payments of the licence fee, which costs £174.50 a year. The report also noted that countries such as Germany already offered free licences or discounts to those on benefits, and that UK officials would look at “further targeted interventions, such as new concessions or payment schedules”. The prospect of the potential handout comes as Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, faces criticism for failing to get more Britons off benefits and into work, with spending on benefits on course to hit £378bn by 2029-30. Elsewhere in the consultation report, which comes at a time of crisis for the broadcaster, it was suggested the corporation could raise money with a “top-up subscription service” offering premium content, including repeats on iPlayer. It also floated the idea of the BBC carrying advertisements on live television and radio, while it said another option would be to restrict advertisements to iPlayer and the BBC website.” – Daily Telegraph

• Free BBC if you live on Benefits Street… and paid for, naturally, by middle-class strivers under Labour plan – Daily Mail
• Ministers look at depoliticising top BBC jobs as Farage rides high in polls – The Guardian
• BBC could SCRAP TV licence fee for millions & put shows like Line of Duty and Top Gear behind paywall to save future – The Sun
• Why Trump has ‘a mountain to climb’ to win $10bn case against BBC – The Times

Comment:

• The BBC must merge with Channel 4 for its very survival – Danny Cohen, Daily Telegraph
• The BBC faces a much bigger crisis than Trump’s $10bn demand – Mark Damzer, The i

Starmer’s latest Brexit reversal

“British students will be able to study abroad at European universities under a flagship EU scheme for the first time since Brexit. Ministers will announce on Wednesday that the UK is rejoining the Erasmus exchange programme from 2027. Britons will be able to spend a year studying at European universities as part of their UK degree courses without paying extra fees, and vice versa for European students. The announcement is the first tangible outcome of Sir Keir Starmer’s reset with the EU and follows talks last week between the Europe minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds, and his EU counterpart, Maros Sefcovic. Both sides needed to agree on a deal before the new year so UK students could participate in Erasmus from 2027. Students going abroad will pay tuition fees to their home university and will be eligible for a grant to help with the costs of living abroad. The scheme will also be open to those studying at further education colleges and will include sports exchanges and some forms of work placements. In negotiations Britain asked for a 50 per cent discount on the full financial contribution to the programme, some £120 million a year, but the EU offered 30 per cent off full payments for the first year. Ministers will set out the full financial settlement on Wednesday. The UK argued that before Brexit more than twice as many EU students came to the UK as British students travelled to Europe at a net cost to the UK taxpayer of more than £200 million a year. In 2018-19, the last year the scheme operated, 18,300 British students studied in the EU while 30,000 EU students came here. But supporters of the scheme argued that Erasmus boosted the British economy by a quarter of a billion a year — even after subtracting membership costs — and helped support universities financially.” – The Times

• UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme – The Guardian
• Brexit reset Erasmus deal to allow Britons to study in EU is imminent – The i
• UK Students To Rejoin EU’s Erasmus Scheme As Labour Undo Tory Brexit Deal – Huffington Post
• Starmer’s Brexit reversal will cost £200M per year and benefit Europeans over Britons – Daily Express

Comment:

• Some Labour MPs want to restart the Brexit wars. It won’t end well – Mark Wallace, The i

NHS strikes begin as Streeting urged to agree to mediation with doctors

“Exasperated NHS bosses have urged Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association to agree to independent mediation to end industrial action by resident doctors, who will begin their latest strike on Wednesday. The health secretary and the doctors union have been told to embrace the idea in order to urgently break the deadlock in their increasingly bitter dispute that health service bosses say is making patients “collateral damage”. An arbitrator could work to bridge the gap between them and resolve the 33-month-long dispute in England, the NHS Confederation, which represents hospital bosses, said. Thousands of resident – formerly junior – doctors in England will strike from 7am on Wednesday for five days in their 14th strike action since 2023. Hospitals have cancelled tens of thousands of tests and treatments to help them cope with the extra pressure they will be under until the strike ends at 7am next Monday 22 December. Last-ditch talks on Tuesday between the health secretary and the BMA were “constructive” but failed to reach an agreement over pay and jobs. Sir Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, has condemned the strike as “cruel”, “calculated” and aimed at “causing mayhem” because it coincides with one of the health service’s toughest weeks of the year. The confederation’s plea to both sides to let an independent figure try to find a resolution to the long-running dispute over pay and job reflects a growing fear in the NHS that it could “drag on and on and on” during next year unless there is a dramatic move to find a settlement.” – The Guardian

• Doctors go on strike today: Patients warned to brace for delays as five-day walkout begins with 70,000 appointments cancelled – as super flu ravages the UK – Daily Mail
• Patients left in hospital corridors as doctors begin five-day strike – ITV
• NHS warn public: Check first aid kits as doctors strike – Daily Telegraph
• Doctor strikes ‘will leave elderly patients stranded at Christmas’ – The Time

Comment:

• Streeting’s attacks on hard-working doctors show his desperation to be PM – Andrew Fisher, The i
• Striking, bullying, blackmailing tinpot revolutionary doctors like to pose as NHS guardians… but they’re enemy within – Leo McKinstry, The Sun
• The latest junior doctors’ strike is reckless and self-indulgent – The Times View
• The NHS will have to go. The public understands this, when will politicians? – Philip Johnston, Daily Telegraph

News in brief:

• Is Kemi Badenoch really pulling the Tories back from the brink? – Peter Franklin, UnHerd
• Arrogant Labour has played fast and loose with the jobs market – Christian May, CityAM
• Why we should be more like Poland – Matei Rosca, The Critic
• Why I pity the liberals being mugged by reality – Gareth Roberts, The Spectator
• Being a party for the ‘workers’ does not mean shifting Left – Clark Vasey, CapX