John Humphrys ponders a friendlier approach to collecting licence fee

Who would have thought Noel Edmonds would have found allies, on the Radio 4 Today programme no less, in his battle against the methods the BBC uses to collect the licence fee? This morning's programme carried a report on how cinema piracy adverts had ditched the "Knock off Nigel" campaign in favour of a friendlier approach that thanked the audience for their custom. Host John Humphrys then said: "Sarah and I were talking and in line with this, thanking people for support, we should thank people for paying the licence fee and supporting us. Thank you." John, you're welcome – don't even mention it. "Rather than threaten them," said co-host Sarah Montague. "Exactly," agreed Humphrys. "That'll get us into trouble."