Boris Johnson is being urged to offer a “much-needed Christmas present” to the elderly by restoring the free TV licence. Campaigners hailed reports the Government was poised to drop plans to decriminalise the BBC licence fee and said it was time to u-turn on the decision to axe the lifeline benefit for the over-75s.
Ministers have been consulting for months on whether to treat licence fee evasion as a civil matter, meaning poor families and pensioners could be hounded by debt collectors if they fail to pay the £157.50 annual charge.
It has now emerged that the long-delayed report will push back the decision on whether to end prosecutions for non-payment until at least 2022.