Keir Starmer commits to keeping BBC licence fee after years of Tory hostility

Broadcaster suffered severe cuts under Conservatives, which reneged on inflation-linked deal

Labour will support the BBC licence fee, Keir Starmer has pledged, in stark contrast to the years of Conservative opposition to the funding model.

The levy of 159 a year on households with a television used to receive live broadcasts (or watch BBC iPlayer) raises 3.2bn annually for the BBC and the Welsh channel S4C.