A while ago I was contacted by a Dr Tony Holden who was in the same position as I was regarding the television license and, just like me, he was willing to fight for the right to be left alone. We exchanged a few emails and I offered to report his story on this website to give it more visibility and so that hopefully other people could find out what works and what doesn't. For the most part the story is the same one that has been played out countless times throughout the country with the TVLA plaguing the individual bold enough not to have a TV with countless threats.

After the first few threatening letters arrived Tony contacted a solicitr for advice on how to proceed. The solicitors advice was to write to the TVLA advising them that no television was at the premises. This would hopefully stop the letters and would give Tony the initiative should the matter end in court. Tony has kindly supplied the letters which I have reproduced – the is the letter to the TVLA.

Following on from this Tony sent letters to OfCom and Which. The OfCom letter in particular is excellently written and sums up exactly how many of us feel. Unfortunately, I don't know how what the response was to any of these letters but should I find out I will report back.

While chatting, Tony also pointed out two interesting parliamentary debates where the issue of television licensing was raised. The first is an article in the Shetland News detailing a conversation between LibDem MP, Mr Carmichael, and the head of the TVLA customer relations, Stuart Morgan. The second is a debate in the house of commons on culture, media and sport at which television licensing issues were raised. The debate is very long so I have reproduced the relevant section.