Almost 50 cross-party MPs have written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy urging Labour to delay the switch-off of Freeview terrestrial television by a decade, warning that scrapping the free-to-air service too soon could leave up to five million households vulnerable, particularly during national emergencies. The government's June Green Paper set out plans to end aerial-based Digital Terrestrial Television, with the earliest possible switch-off date of 2034, forcing viewers onto internet-based streaming for channels such as BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. Campaigners and MPs argue this would effectively impose a paywall on television by requiring costlier broadband packages, and warn it risks weakening the UK's resilience by removing one of the most reliable ways of reaching the whole population with trusted information in a crisis.

The letter, signed by figures including Conservative Katie Lam, ex-Labour minister Steve Reed and shadow transport secretary Richard Holden, calls instead for the later of the two proposed dates, 2044, describing it as a "credible, costed and lower-risk alternative". They say those most reliant on aerial TV are often the most vulnerable, including elderly people, those on tight budgets, disabled people, and rural, coastal and island communities lacking affordable broadband. Freeview currently reaches 13.6 million UK homes and remains the main TV platform for 40% of households with a set, with an estimated 1.5 million households still expected to depend on it by 2035; a government consultation on the proposals closed the night before the letter was sent.