‘It’s my link to outside world’: BBC to review Red Button cuts amid claims it would discriminate against elderly and vulnerable

‘Shutting this down could plunge millions of us who aren’t online into social isolation overnight,’ user says

Red Button protestor Sarah Leadbetter from Leicestershire outside the BBC on Monday (National Federation of the Blind of the UK)

When Victor Jackson – 77, registered blind and hard of hearing – learned in September that the BBC was to scrap its Red Button text service, he was, he says, left feeling entirely helpless.

“It’s my link to the outside world,” he tells The Independent. “And not just mine. Shutting this down could plunge millions of elderly and disabled people who aren’t online into social isolation overnight.”

He did not remain helpless or isolated for long.

A campaign the retired shoe-shop manager kick-started from his flat in shared accommodation in Leeds has pushed the BBC to pause its plans to end the service, which provides offline text news, sport and weather through the TV.

Bosses put the proposals on hold on Wednesday – a day before they were due to come into action – after more than 170 organisations signed a petition launched by Mr Jackson with the National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK).

The document argues the cut is a form of discrimination against the 7 per cent of the population who have no internet access. For them, it says, the Red Button provides information on both global and local current affairs which they generally have no other way of obtaining.

It was handed into both the BBC and Downing Street following protests outside the corporation’s London headquarters on Monday.

Less than 48 hours later, outgoing director general Tony Hall said he would examine the concerns and make “a fresh decision” in the spring.

Victor Jackson (Victor Jackson)

“We’re delighted they’ve seen sense,” says Mr Jackson at home. “It was so clearly the wrong thing to do, and discriminated against vulnerable people and those with disabilities, that I just thought, they can’t be allowed to get away with this.”

Thousands of elderly and vulnerable people say they are reliant on the service because they find the internet – with its set-up costs, multiplicity of password requirements and potential for scams – intimidating or too expensive.

Others who are partially sighted say the text is clearer and easier to read than online or in print newspapers.

“It means that we can sit down any time of the day and find out what’s going on in the world from Beijing to our own town,” says Mr Jackson, who says he has no desire to have broadband installed at his home. “Without this, that would disappear for us.”

The BBC climbdown was announced on Twitter by the MP Damian Collins who had joined the fight to save the Red Button. It came on the same day the corporation announced 450 job cuts from its news service as part of a money-saving drive.

Speaking shortly after the U-turn was announced, Sarah Gayton, of the NFBUK, said: “They tried to sneak this out without anyone realising and they almost succeeded because it was a cut that would really have only affected the voiceless.

“We’re elated that’s now been paused. The cost of keeping this service is so small in the context of the BBC budget but it provides a service – keeping isolated people informed and educated – that is absolutely central to its charter.

“They have said this is only a pause but we will now keep fighting to ensure it is a permanent one.”

The BBC has previously said the service costs £39m annually to run, although that also includes showing live sport on the button.