Letter: A licence not to watch

IF I WENT to my newsagent and stole the Independent on Sunday I might be prosecuted and fined and if I did not pay the fine I might be sent to

prison. Would you then write: 'Banged up for stealing a newspaper'? Many people go to prison for non-payment and not the offence for which they were first prosecuted. In effect they are guilty of contempt of court.

At pounds 83 a year the television licence costs only pounds 1.60 a week. How many of the people sent to prison spend more than that on a packet of cigarettes?

People who have television sets need licences. That was a decision made by Parliament many years ago. If they do not have a licence they are taking something for nothing, like a shoplifter. I pay for my licence out of a modest income and I do not see why I should pay more to let others off free.

John Faulls

Portsmouth