Elderly and disabled viewers who rely on Freeview face seeing channels and programmes axed even if plans for online-only TV by 2034 are delayed, industry leaders warned.
Ministers have said there is a “compelling” case for switching off terrestrial TV delivered over household aerials (DTT) in 2034 as more viewers move to TV via streaming.
However, Andy Burnham made a surprise intervention on Tuesday when he told MPs he was “concerned” about the plans and would take a “proper look” at delaying them. The Prime Minister said that “some of my constituents in Makerfield rely on Freeview”.
Dozens feared dead after boat found adrift off Canary Islands
More than 80 migrants are feared to have perished after a boat was found drifting off the Canary Islands.
Everything you need to know
- The canoe-like vessel was discovered south of the holiday islands on Thursday morning. It is thought it had been at sea for 26 days.
- The boat left Gambia in West Africa with about 128 occupants last month. Those on board are thought to be mostly from Gambia and Mali.
- Rescuers found only 44 survivors, along with five bodies. Aid workers said survivors reported that 83 people, including a baby, had died during the crossing.
Migrant route to Canary Islands one of the world’s deadliest
The Atlantic crossing from West Africa to the Spanish Canary Islands is attempted by thousands of migrants each year despite the risks posed by rough seas and long distances. According to one estimate, 1,300 migrants died in the first five months of 2026 trying to reach the Spanish coast.
Canary Islands regional leader Fernando Clavijo said on X: “It is intolerable that lives continue to be lost. The Canaries cannot get used to or accept as normal the fact that the Atlantic continues to be a death trap.”
Gloria Steinem, groundbreaking feminist campaigner, dies aged 92
An icon for many
Steinem was known for radically changing the rights of many women in the US so that they could eventually apply for credit cards without a man’s signature, legally get an abortion and be admitted to Ivy League universities.
4 min read
Changing lives
“Gloria’s near century on Earth were years well lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.”
A post on her official instagram account said
A campaigner who radically changed rights for women
From legal clerk to bunny girl to activist
- Steinem was born in Ohio in 1934 and grew up in a trailer home. She attended a liberal arts college and travelling to India, where she worked as a legal clerk in the country’s supreme court.
- She subsequently spent decades as an activist, championing causes from abortion rights to the banning of genital mutilation.
“‘s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves. lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor.”
STatement on gloria’s foundation
Zack Polanski launches bid to run for Starmer’s seat in by-election
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, will stand to become an MP when a by-election is held in Sir Keir Starmer’s seat in the coming months.
Everything you need to know
- Polanski has confirmed he wants to be the Green Party candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election caused by Starmer’s decision to leave frontline politics.
- The leader of the Greens insisted the seat was winnable, accusing Labour of standing up for “corporations and big money”. He added: “I will stand up for people struggling to pay their bills.”
- Polanski is currently a member of the London Assembly but is unusual as a national party leader in not being an MP.
Polanski gambles on by-election battle
The Green leader’s decision to stand in Holborn and St Pancras represents a gamble as he seeks to maintain his party’s momentum in challenging Labour on the left. The party’s in recent months and a victory for Polanski would represent a valuable political prize.
Until now, Sir Keir’s central London seat has been a Labour stronghold but the Greens came second in the area in local elections earlier this year.
Protests erupt in Spain over Ceuta migrant crisis
Thousands have attended protests across Spain against the government’s handling of the arrival of thousands of migrants in the exclave of Ceuta on the Moroccan coast.
Everything you need to know
- The rallies on Wednesday were called by city councils controlled by opposition parties. They accuse Spain’s left-wing government of abandoning Ceuta’s residents.
- There have been near-daily protests in the North African city calling for remaining migrants to be returned or distributed across mainland Spain.
- Demonstrators have called for prime minister Pedro Sánchez to resign but the government accuses right-wing parties of exploiting the crisis.
Why did these protests happen?
Some 72,000 people crossed illegally from Morocco into Ceuta in July. While most have returned, as many as 5,000 remain. The Spanish government has blamed for the influx but critics claim the Moroccan authorities were complicit.
Did Morocco orchestrate the mass crossing?
A police report this week said Moroccan security forces had shown “total permissiveness” during the huge influx into the exclave on 30 and 31 July. Sánchez has insisted Morocco was not responsible but the report said the Moroccan police presence was “clearly smaller” than usual.
The police report nonetheless stopped short of directly accusing Morocco of being behind the mass influx.
The protests in pictures
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What to know as toxic haze spreads across South East Asia
Indonesia is battling , some of which have been burning for weeks and resulted in a toxic haze affecting millions.
What you need to know
Multiple locations
The fires are burning on several of Indonesia’s biggest islands, in particular on Borneo.
Health risk
Millions have been exposed to toxic smoke, with 50,000 being treated in hospital for respiratory infections.
Regional problem
Air pollution caused by the fires is affecting Malaysia and The Philippines.
Indonesia’s decades-old problem with wildfires
The forest and peatland fires engulfing parts of Indonesia are a familiar problem for the authorities. Their roots lie in a project by former ruler Suharto to rip up rainforest and drain peat bogs for plantations and logging.
Repeated investigations have shown that developers use fire as a cut-price means of clearing large areas for plantations and industrial sites.
Haze shrouds parts of South East Asia
Fans teased with new Harry Potter trailer – what we learnt
The sorting hat and Quidditch are among the familiar magical phenomena which appear in the first full trailer for the new television series due to air this Christmas.
The sorting hat returns
The eagerly anticipated HBO show based on JK Rowling’s first wizarding novel, , will consist of eight episodes and early glimpses suggest producers have been careful to retain the detail of the original book.
4 min read
What you need to know
Hogwarts is back
The trailer focuses on the magical school and Harry’s first experiences, including the trial of the sorting hat.
Friends again
Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are introduced in separate clips as the trio become friends.
Ron in a mess
Weasley is seen at home trying to read an acceptance letter covered in jam by his brothers.
Hogwarts’ teachers take centre stage
The trailer begins with Professor McGonagall, played by Janet McTeer, telling the newly arrived students they must undertake the dreaded sorting hat ceremony before enjoying a sumptuous banquet at the school of wizarding.
Severus Snape, played by Paapa Essiedu, finds time to sneer at Harry’s classroom shortcomings as he prepares to try Quidditch. But Rubeus Hagrid, performed by Nick Frost, takes the young wizard under his wing, telling him: “You’ll find your place.”
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‘HD channels could go’ as service declines
Freeview currently offers around 70 channels including all the BBC’s services. Campaigners backing the delay say people who are elderly, disabled or on low incomes who currently rely on Freeview would have to pay up to £300 a year in high-speed broadband contracts if it was turned off.
However, backers of the switch-off argue that postponing it will still leave a dwindling group of Freeview users with a reduced TV offering, as broadcasters withdraw from a service that is no longer economically viable.
Natalie Ceeney, chair of The Connection Project, a broadcasting industry body which supports a 2034 switch-off, told The i Paper: “The prices for channel slots will fall in response to the weakening demand, but will have to maintain a floor in order to maintain the infrastructure.
“At the point further price reductions are not possible, HD services could go. Channel choice will decline. Meanwhile the public service broadcasters are by law obliged to remain, serving fewer and fewer people while shouldering more of the costs as the last major channels standing.”
Jonathan Thompson, chief executive of Everyone TV – the body which runs Freeview and Freely, the streaming TV service set to replace Freeview – said: “Digital Terrestrial Television costs the same to run for 20 million viewers or 20. The distribution model of one to many at predictable cost for broadcasters weakens as audiences migrate online.
“Channels depart. DTT’s appeal shrinks. The risk grows of a two-tier TV system of ‘streaming haves’ and ‘terrestrial have-nots’.”
Licence fee may rise to cover Freeview costs
A report published last week by media analysts Oliver & Ohlbaum found that Britain’s public service broadcasters spend around £156m a year to transmit Freeview through home aerials, at the same time as paying to deliver those same channels over the internet.
Switching off Freeview would therefore allow the BBC, ITV and others to spend more money on programmes.
In its submission to the Government’s current review of its Charter, the BBC said that the cost of maintaining terrestrial TV “as audiences move away from broadcast services” would “increasingly fall on the licence fee payer”.
This suggests either more programmes would be cut or the £180-a-year charge increased to cover the extra transmission cost.
The BBC is already cutting programmes, from to , as it seeks £500m in savings by 2028, following a faster-than-expected decline in licence fee income.
The Prime Minister’s intervention followed a poll taken before the Makerfield by-election, which found that four in five people in his new constituency supported keeping terrestrial television on air until 2044. The same number said they would be angry if the Government switched off terrestrial TV in 2034.
Labour MPs are increasingly concerned the switch-off could become a vote-loser in marginal seats at the next general election.
Around five million households could still be using Freeview in 2034, some estimates suggest.
Steve Reed, a cabinet minister in Sir Keir Starmer’s administration, joined a cross-party group of 50 MPs who signed a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy urging her to take the 2034 date off the table.
The Streatham and Croydon North MP saidFree-to-air terrestrial television is a lifeline for elderly Londoners, not to mention families on tight budgets or those without reliable or affordable broadband.
“We should not allow a premature switch-off to place an effective paywall around a service that has reached every home for generations.”
Viewers switch to broadband TV faster than expected
But the case for a 2034 switch-over was boosted after independent analysis forecast that the number of homes without broadband will fall to only 220,000 by 2034, which equates to 0.8 per cent of TV households.
Meanwhile, viewers are switching from Freeview to the expanding online platform Freely, which is expected to be in 10.5 million UK households by 2034.
Burnham’s remarks have not changed the Government’s official position on switch-off. A spokesperson said “there is a strong case for a transition to IPTV (TV over the internet), but no decisions have been made”.
“We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind as TV viewing increasingly moves online. Any future transition would only proceed once we are confident the right safeguards, infrastructure and support are in place so that everyone can continue to access television affordably and with confidence.”
Ministers are also “committed to achieving nationwide gigabit-capable broadband coverage by 2032,” a source added.
Project Gigabit, the Government scheme which aims to bring faster and more reliable internet to hard-to-reach rural areas, is connecting 750 homes and businesses a day. Currently, 92 per cent of premises are covered.