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Millions of Netflix and YouTube viewers could be forced to pay the BBC licence fee under Lisa Nandy's 'YouTube tax' plans

The government plans to expand the BBC licence fee to cover streaming platforms including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon, with a white paper expected before Christmas.
The government plans to expand the BBC licence fee to cover streaming platforms including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon, with a white paper expected before Christmas.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is weighing up plans to bring Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime and Disney+ within the scope of the £180-a-year BBC licence fee — a move reportedly to be outlined in a White Paper before Christmas. People who currently sidestep the charge by watching content on phones, tablets and laptops would be required to pay under the proposal. Former culture secretary Baroness Nicky Morgan condemned it as "a retrograde step" that would put the BBC "on the wrong footing for the 21st century."

Licence-fee payer numbers have dropped by nearly two million across five years, with only 23.3 million licences sold this year despite 94% of the UK accessing BBC content.

BBC director-general Matt Brittin has said the licence fee is "no longer fit for purpose" and wants BBC content available on Netflix, TikTok and Spotify under a new universal household levy.

Nigel Farage and Independent MP Adnan Hussain have joined Baroness Morgan in opposing the plan, while the Department for Culture, Media and Sport insists "no final decisions have been made."

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