BBC equal pay cases cost taxpayer £1m in legal fees January 22, 2021 MPs have hit out at the BBC over revelations the broadcaster spent more than £1m of taxpayer money on legal fees fighting equal pay and race discrimination cases against its own staff. In a letter to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, published today, the BBC said it had forked out £1.1m between July [...]
Equality watchdog clears BBC of gender pay discrimination November 12, 2020 The BBC has been cleared of unlawful gender pay discrimination but was warned of a breakdown in trust between the broadcaster and its female employees. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) last year launched an investigation into the BBC following a string of pay complaints from high-profile presenters such as Carrie Grace and Samira [...]
Samira Ahmed claims victory in BBC equal pay tribunal January 10, 2020 Samira Ahmed has won an equal pay employment tribunal against the BBC. The TV presenter claimed she was underpaid for hosting Newswatch in comparison with the salary Jeremy Vine commanded for his similarly-structured audience feedback programme, Points of View. Read more: Samira Ahmed v BBC: The court case over a 600 per cent pay gap [...]
Samira Ahmed reaches settlement with BBC over equal pay case February 24, 2020 The BBC has reached a settlement with Samira Ahmed after the presenter won her equal pay case against the broadcaster. An employment tribunal last month ruled that Ahmed was underpaid for hosting Newswatch in comparison to Jeremy Vine, who hosts Points of View. The BBC had argued that the two presenters fulfilled “very different roles”, [...]
BBC pays Sarah Montague £400,000 in equal pay dispute January 20, 2020 Radio presenter Sarah Montague today revealed that she won £400,000 and an apology from the BBC for being paid “unequally” over many years. Montague, who hosts Radio 4’s World at One, said she secured the settlement last year after a “long period of stressful negotiations”. In a series of tweets this morning, the veteran journalist [...]
BBC to move two-thirds of jobs outside London as it doubles down on regions January 12, 2020 The BBC plans to have two-thirds of its employees based outside London by 2027 as the embattled broadcaster hits back at accusations of metropolitan bias. Director general Tony Hall said the corporation had a responsibility to “serve everyone” and “reflect every part of the UK”. Read more: Samira Ahmed claims victory in BBC equal pay [...]
BBC leak reveals names of 120 women in equal pay dispute November 1, 2019 The BBC has been accused of a potentially major data breach after the names of 120 female employees who had pursued equal pay complaints against the broadcaster were inadvertently revealed during presenter Samira Ahmed’s employment tribunal case. The document names BBC women who had put their names to a letter issued by the National Union [...]
Samira Ahmed faces BBC in court over ‘600 per cent’ pay gap October 28, 2019 BBC presenter Samira Ahmed has today kicked off her legal challenge against the broadcaster over claims she was paid just “a sixth” of Jeremy Vine’s salary. The Newswatch presenter has said she was paid just £440 per programme, while Vine received as much as £3,000 per episode for his work on Points of View. Read [...]
General Election 2019: How to watch the results on live TV December 12, 2019 The UK has been plunged into a political broadcast blackout today, with channels forced to put their election coverage on hold as Brits go to the polls. But when voting closes at 10pm, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky will all fire up their cameras to provide rolling coverage until the UK’s next Prime [...]
Boris’ Brexit blindside: What the hell just happened? August 28, 2019 Boris Johnson has put the cat among the pigeons by asking the Queen to suspend parliament for nearly five weeks, reducing the amount of time parliament sits before the critical Brexit Halloween deadline. Remainers are outraged. Brexiters are sceptical. But what happens next? Is proroguing parliament legal? That’s a tough one. Certainly, Johnson’s team wanted [...]