A senior Tory MP has described a forthcoming review into BBC funding as a "sham", as Nadine Dorries called the licence fee a "regressive tax" which penalises women and poorer people.
It comes after the culture secretary unveiled a two-year freeze to the organisation's licence fee in January, with a review to be launched before the summer recess to examine alternatives.
Appearing at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, Ms Dorries told MPs people needed to "wake up and smell the coffee", insisting it was time for a model that is "more effective, modern and fair".
The cabinet minister labelled the existing licence fee a "regressive tax and it does penalise women and the poor more than it does others", adding it was "antediluvian" to suggest it was still appropriate now.
But Damian Green, the former de facto deputy prime minister under Theresa May, suggested it was "the wrong way round" for the minister to come to a decision before launching a consultation.
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