But Then Again Maybe Not

It's time to look at why I won't just pay for a license that I don't need. I could get them to go away by doing that. Isn't that really their game all along? The explanation requires a little family history.

My father was in Military Intelligence in Europe just after WW2. He wasn't some master spy, just a young man doing his national service. But he happened to have some talent for foreign languages, and so he found himself chasing after people who had murdered, or sent away to be murdered, thousands of people. It was all very different from life as a schoolboy in the heart of England, and he came away profoundly changed by the experience. He passed on to me the idea that it is not enough to just do what everyone else does, or to stand by, to do nothing. When you meet with bad people, when you meet them anywhere, any time of day, you must stand up to them.

We aren't talking genocide here, but for me TV Licensing are classed as bad people. If anyone disagrees with that, then I'd like to know why. Because I really don't see anything to excuse their behaviour. And if you think like them, can see the logic behind the way they operate, then explain to me why it's OK to intrude into my life, and make me unhappy, over the funding for a broadcaster. And do that for years. What kind of person are you?

So I'm not going to pay for that license (that I don't need) just because they are hounding me. That would only prove the method works, and encourage TV Licensing to do more of the same to more people. Once I am cowed the game isn't over: it will be time for them to move on to the next household on their list.

So let's look at what came through the letterbox in June 2007.

Old Friends Stay In Touch

So 'despite our previous correspondence, there is still no TV License at this address'. And despite our previous correspondence TV Licensing still don't understand that I do not watch TV, so I do not need one.

An Enforcement Officer is planning to visit me shortly. As he has no right of access to my property he'd better bring a warrant, else he's breaking the law. Should I phone the police and inform them TV Licensing are planning to commit a crime?

And then it goes quiet. For months I hear nothing from TV Licensing. I start to relax, some of the tension goes. My mood picks up. Perhaps TV Licensing have finally decided to leave me alone.

But in old Westerns there's a grizzled old sergeant who will tell you that it's too quiet. He's avoided a scalping several times so I should listen to him. Because TV Licensing have me on their list. I am not free of them.