Claire pointed to the technical complexities of a subscription system, and repeated an old adage that whilst the licence fee wasn’t perfect, it was “the least worst option” for the BBC. Looking at the institution itself, she said the BBC “has an authority and ethos that the world knows and understands”, and believes it is paradoxical that the Conservatives are looking to “undermine” it.

She added “Taking away the licence fee is tantamount to destroying the BBC.”

Abi Watson of Enders Analysis estimated the latest financial settlement would create a shortfall for the BBC of £871m by 2027. That adds to the pressures from two licence fee settlements since 2010 that have squeezed the corporation’s funding by around £1.1bn.

Alice said "Even though [aggregation] seems like a small portion of an entire revenue mix, those relationships are important because it helps dictate the way in which news will be consumed going forwards. It's the wider question of 'what's the relationship between tech and the publishers?’"

Alice, while supportive of aggregation innovation from within the industry, believes that the key news aggregation questions in the future will be driven by the 'big tech - publisher' relationship since aggregation needs eyeballs to work, she says.

She added "Do you make deals with the big platforms? Because that's probably where aggregators are heading for the future? Or do you just stick it out alone?"