"Gezza" (name changed to protect the innocent etc etc) writes:
"Have you seen this!!! Poor council house tenants having to pay for digital TV, we have to so why the f*ck shouldn't they. Bloody namby pamby state, we would be paying twice for the digital change. BTW, Merry Christmas"
The article in full (obviously 100% true as it's in the Sunday Mirror!):
"THOUSANDS of council tenants will have to pay up to £100 a year extra to get new digital TV services.
Town hall chiefs - who plan to stop people fitting dozens of "unsightly" satellite dishes in blocks of flats - say they will be forced to levy an extra charge for new communal aerials because Whitehall won't pay for them.
The revelation comes ahead of the planned "digital switchover" which will start in late 2007. The changeover will mean that anyone with an old analogue TV will not be able to receive a signal unless they buy a digital TV or a set-top box.
Documents obtained by the Sunday Mirror, show they plan to slap an extra charge on tenants to cover the cost of installing the new digital systems. The move will infuriate tens of thousands of tenants who will have to pay to watch even the "free-to-air" channels on their communal systems.
London's Camden Council has warned its 22,000 tenants that they will face a £1 weekly fee from next year which will rise annually in line with inflation. Other councils may levy a charge of up to £2 a week to fit the new systems - making an annual fee of around £100 per year.
One Camden tenant said: "It's an outrage. Why should we pay extra? All I want is the basic channels which are free now."
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said £600 million of Government cash would help Britain's poorest pensioners switch to digital TV. The money would help the over-75s, the blind and the disabled.
But MPs fear many of Britain's poorest homes may struggle to afford to buy the equipment needed to watch digital TV."
Poor buggers. Whilst there are undoubtedly those that are less fortunate, I bet if the councils concerned actually bothered their arses to have a wander around the relevant areas I'm sure they'd be amazed at how £100 a year is a stretch when they consider how much the repayments on the brand new cars, 42 inch plasma tellies and National Grid emptying Christmas lights cost.
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