BBC News and BBC World to merge

[Brekkie]

Blaming the BBC for the cost of living crisis when freezing the licence fee is saving households £10 a year compared to the £10 a time extra people are paying at the pump when they pay for fuel or the £1500+ extra people are paying in energy bills is distraction politics in play.   Indeed the argument should be that funding the BBC properly with as little as £10 extra a year could save you money on subscribing to watch the content the BBC can currently not afford.

Say for the sake of argument that the a BBC-friendly government (or someone willing to raise its budget) gets elected tomorrow.  Assuming there are enough MPs ready to support funding rises for the public broadcaster, how soon could that be voted on or implemented?

No party is going to raise the licence fee during the cost of living crisis. I could imagine a policy where to help the poorest in society more people are moved out of the licence fee resulting in less money at the end, so reading between the lines, it isn’t as clear cut as what I imagine you are suggesting

I agree, but it's the other elements where the BBC funding are things that were previously funded by the government where an impact can be made in the short term - noteably World Service, S4C and crucially the over 75s free licences. That could make a significant difference to the BBC budget for what in terms of the government budget is actually a minimal amount - hundreds of millions compared to the billions being proposed in tax cuts.