‘Save our BBC’: New petition gets 108,000 signatures after Downing Street ‘vows to abolish licence fee’

Famous supporter includes ‘His Dark Materials’ author Philip Pullman

A petition to save the BBC has received more than 100,000 signatures just one day after reports said Downing Street was planing to scrap the BBC licence fee and replace it with a Netflix-style subscription model.

Senior aides to the prime minister allegedly told the Sunday Times that the corporation would be forced to sell off most of its radio stations and scale back its website and TV channels.

“We are not bluffing on the licence fee,” the source was reported as saying. “It has to be a subscription model.”

The 38 Degrees Petition has attracted signatures from worried television viewers, including author Philip Pullman, whose His Dark Materials books were adapted into a BBC series in 2019.

It said the BBC, which is described as a “world-leading public service”, needs to be protected from the reported “political attack”.

I’ve just signed the petition calling on @BorisJohnson @10DowningStreet to stop his war on our #BBC. It’s a thinly veiled attempt to dodge accountability. Please sign and share today. #savethebbc https://t.co/bBPwswxp1e via @38_degrees

— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) February 16, 2020