This is taken from The Guardian:

Tory vote on licence fee puts BBC back on political agenda
by Ben Dowell, Monday 18 May 2009

The shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said that Commons vote tomorrow in which the Conservatives will press for the licence fee to be frozen at £139.50 is about making a stand against BBC excess and forcing the government to "explain its position" on the corporation's funding.

Wednesday's vote on the annual licence fee increase is being forced by the Tories after the party leader David Cameron in March called for the licence fee to be frozen at last year's level of £139.50 - rather than rise by £3 to £142.50 - in response to the recession.

The Commons vote on the increase is normally a formality. All three parties have whipped the vote, with the Lib Dems promising to support the government, meaning that the increase is almost certain to be passed.

However, Wednesday's vote will be a warning to the BBC that if the Conservatives win next year's general election, as seems increasingly likely, the issue of the licence fee will return to the political agenda.

Hunt said of the vote: "It seems completely wrong that the BBC is getting an inflation rise when there is no inflation. The BBC's income was traditionally on a par with the income for the commercial sector but now that advertising is suffering it is getting on to double what the commercially funded sector is getting.

"We as a party support the licence fee and the five-year settlements but we think that this year, when there are 2.2 million people unemployed, the BBC should waive its increase."

Hunt added that a freezing of the licence fee for a year "will only represent a shortfall of £68m for the BBC", adding that "while £3 a year may not seem a lot of money", it represented a "meaningful sum of money" for people who are struggling in the recession.

And while Hunt played down comparisons with the Conservative party's historical battles with the BBC, John Whittingdale MP, the Tory chairman of the Commons culture media and sport select committee, said the vote will "send a message" to the corporation.

"The debate and the vote will send a message from the party which is very likely to be the next government and we hope the BBC will listen to the debate very carefully," added Whittingdale.

"I have long been of the view that the money guaranteed through the licence fee is so much greater than the income available to commercial television that it is distorting the market."

And one Tory source added: "This could be the first meaningful salvo in what could be an explosive battle between a Conservative government and the BBC."

In calling for the vote, Cameron said that in the current tough economic climate, all public institutions had to show that they could "live within their means" and the BBC ought to lead by example.

Earlier this month, the Tory leader also promised to include BBC and Channel 4 executives earning more than £150,00 basic salary a year in a list naming and shaming top earners working for public organisations.

A BBC management spokesman declined to comment on the upcoming vote.

But in an article published in the Westminster magazine House earlier this month and clearly aimed at MPs, the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, argued that the licence fee was a "unique privilege" that carried "unique responsibilities", before going on to emphasise the efficiencies the corporation was making to offer value for money.

Thompson said that the licence fee was also critical to the country's investment in creative industries during a recession.

A spokesman for the BBC Trust said last night: "Whilst it is ultimately a matter for Parliament, stable funding is essential to the BBC's creative and editorial independence and to help it add an independently estimated £6.5 billion to the UK economy."