The BBC has come out in support of the EBU decision to include Israel in next year's Eurovision - but then the BBC helps fund it out of the licence fee! Right, so here’s the thing about Eurovision this year, and the BBC I daresay might have really hoped nobody would join the dots on this – sorry, not sorry. Because while the Eurovision Broadcasting Union was busy insisting the contest is not political – as if you can put Israel on stage while Gaza is being levelled and expect nobody to notice – the BBC have stepped forward to say it agreed with that decision, and that’s where the trouble starts. Not because of the music, not because of the protests, not even because the BBC’s reputation is on its knees these days, but because the BBC pays into Eurovision using the licence fee, meaning households across Britain are now indirectly funding a contest that has chosen to carry on as if none of the devastation in Gaza matters. And once you see that, you can see why the BBC’s statement wasn’t neutral at all. It was staggeringly reckless and I daresay will have more people who might still be paying said fee, to perhaps examine once again why that is. Right, so the strange thing about this year’s Eurovision crisis is that the loudest arguments aren’t the ones that explain what’s actually going on. People are shouting about censorship, about artistic freedom, about whether Israel should be allowed to compete while Gaza is being flattened, about whether Eurovision is political or whether the EBU pretends not to notice when politics walks straight through the front door. Well, we know that isn’t true because they banned Russia of course. But the argument that actually matters is quieter and far more awkward for the people who run British broadcasting, because once you follow the money instead of the noise you end up in a place the BBC really hoped nobody would look too closely at. And that place is the licence fee, the BBC budget it feeds, and the flow of public money into Eurovision, which has made the BBC not just a commentator on the controversy but an institution financially entangled in it. And because the BBC chose to publicly back the EBU’s decision to keep Israel in the contest, it has turned a cultural row into a live question about accountability, public consent, and whether the BBC understands the responsibilities that come with using money taken from households that had no say in the matter. You have to start with the structure because the structure explains the politics. The BBC is not just a broadcaster; it is the UK’s member of the European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision. The EBU does not ask governments for participation money; it asks broadcasters.