PENSIONERS and supporters are to march on the BBC on Friday demanding the corporation reverses its decision to axe free TV licences for the over-75s.
Thousands are expected at Don't Switch Us Off protests up and down the country, including BBC Scotland's headquarters in Glasgow, from noon to demonstrate their anger.
It comes as Lord Foulkes' bid in the House of Lords to wrench responsibility for the the tariffs from the BBC back to the Government received cheers of support.
The Age Scotland chairman and Labour peer was introducing a bill aimed at amending the Digital Economy Act 2017 which it is hoped would keep free TV licences for the over-75s.
READ MORE: New legislative bid by Lord Foulkes to save free licences for over-75s.
However, without government support, the bill stands virtually no chance of becoming law becoming law.
The nationwide demonstration, organised by the National Pensioners Convention (NPC), is thought to be one of the biggest protests against the move so far.
Members of the National Pensioners Convention recently protested in Westminster (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
It will take place at BBC regional and national headquarters across the country from midday today after the NPC general secretary Jan Shortt described the BBC decision as “callous and cruel”.
The NPC said: "We are absolutely clear – if we fail to protect this concession, the government will begin looking at the winter fuel allowance and the bus pass. That’s why we need as big a demonstration as possible out on the street on Friday."
The BBC has said free licences will be means-tested under a new scheme which aims to protect programming while dealing with the extra funding burden.
Free licences will be restricted to over-75s who claim Pension Credit from June 1, 2020.
READ MORE: TV licence fees for over-75s will be means-tested
More than 3.7 million pensioners are now expected to have to pay the £154.50 licence fee, and Theresa May has previously said she was ‘disappointed’ with the announcement.
The public have already been voicing their anger, and a petition to Parliament has been signed by over 170,000. At 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
And over 570,000 have so far signed an Age UK petition entitled Switched Off: Save free TV for older people.
Age UK today urged the next prime minister to end the "madness" over the withdrawal of the universal free TV licence for over-75s.
The charity said that the benefit could be given to all "at the stroke of a pen".
Age UK says that half - 2.2 million - of all over-75s have a limiting long-standing illness and so many are largely confined to home, meaning that TV "is their precious window on the world and constant companion".
It says that 1.3 million of the same age group have difficulty with at least one daily activity such as dressing, bathing or showering, or getting in and out of bed.
Charity director Caroline Abrahams said: "If you go into the home of an older person who is coping with serious health problems and care needs, nine times out of 10 their TV has pride of place.
"The TV plays an incredibly important role - informer, entertainer and friend.
"In Loneliness Awareness week, we are calling on ... the candidates for the leadership of the Conservative Party above all, to try to understand what it is like to be of an advanced age, in fragile or declining health, confined largely to your own home or even to one room or your bed, and dependent on your TV for stimulation and comfort," she said.
The BBC has said continuing the universal scheme would cost £745m, a fifth of the BBC's budget and equivalent to the cost of BBC Two, BBC Four, the BBC News Channel, the BBC Scotland channel, Radio 5 Live and a number of local radio stations.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here