Jack Averty: Money, money, money. Must be funny in a Beeb man’s world

Not through some gritty drama or Cillian Murphy admitting he doesn’t like his Peaky Blinders hair (don’t even go there), but by the fact every presenter earning more than £150,000 per year at the taxpayer-funded company had their salaries released. I’m sure we all convinced ourselves that we weren’t bothered, but really we’re all nosey parkers and scoured the list the second it was released.

At 11am on Wednesday there was a collective thud up and down the country as people fell off their chairs in shock. For those on the list their falls were cushioned by wads of £50 notes.

We say 11am, really it was 20 minutes before that because Piers Morgan decided to break an embargo and call it his ‘scoop’.

Anyhow there were several stages in readers’ reactions to this list. First the collective ‘what the f***’ when we discovered what Chris Evans and that bloke from Casualty – who you recognise but have no idea who he is – are earning, as well Jeremy Vine and Gary Lineker.

The next stage was the absolute hilarity of some of the names on the list and the absurd amounts of our money they’re raking in. DIY SOS’s Nick Knowles on £300k-plus and Adam ‘Ian Beale’ Woodyatt is on £200k-plus. Vanessa Feltz is on £350k-plus, while Trevor Nelson raking in £250k-plus also deserves an honourable mention.

The real star of the hilarity sideshow however is In The Afternoon’s Steve Wright. Steve, the BBC Radio 2 soundtrack to many drive homes from school, gets a cool half a million quid a year. Yep, that bloke with a terrible taste in glasses absolutely rakes it in. You’d have thought he could afford some better specs.

The third stage of reaction was – after some calming down – recognising those that deserve their money. James Naughtie, the man who as a presenter on Radio 4’s Today programme called Jeremy Hunt Jeremy C***, is worth every penny of his £150k-plus salary for that alone. Others such as Sue Barker and David Jason are national treasures and we can’t begrudge them a decent pay packet.

But the blood starts to boil on stage four with those that, let’s be honest, are being chronically overpaid. Keen tax haven visitor Gary Barlow on £200k-plus; ‘pumpkin’ Tim Roth on £150k-plus; the most biased rugby presenter of all time Jonathan Davies on £150k-plus; and the outdated John Inverdale on £200k-plus.

Sheer

An argument can be made that everyone on the list is hideously overpaid, but it’s only fair to take into account the sheer size and scale of the BBC and accept that it’s going to have to pay big wages to big stars.

If the Beeb didn’t splash the cash we wouldn’t get to revel in shows such as Line of Duty and Sherlock, which, let’s face it, are worth the licence fee alone.

With everything into context we move on to the most important part of the list – those who are underpaid. It is a shock horror for the liberal Beeb, but most are women. Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Naga Munchetty will all be feeling sour grapes – and they’re the ones who actually made the list.

Newsnight presenter and dogged journalist Emily Maitlis? #notonthelist

Woman’s Hour host Jenni Murray? #notonthelist

Crimewatch presenter and newsreader Tina Daheley? #notonthelist

Then it gets even worse. Sarah Montague, who’s one of the highly-respected presenters on the Today programme, doesn’t make the list and doesn’t cross the £150,000 threshold. Her five colleagues? All on the list – including one, John Humphrys, who earns £600k-plus. Equality anyone?

News at Ten anchor Huw Edwards rakes in £550k-plus. Fiona Bruce, who also presents News at Ten and The Antiques Roadshow, gets £200k less. The same show, £200,000 difference – really that’s an utter scandal and the type the BBC would happily expose if it was any other high-profile firm.

In a similar story Evan Davis gets paid up to £300k a year to present Newsnight while, as previously mentioned, his fellow presenter Emily Maitlis did not make the list.

This is 2017, the BBC of all organisations should be paying equally. Instead we’re left with a situation where Dan Walker can earn £200k-a- year for his role presenting BBC Breakfast while his co-star, Louise Minchin, doesn’t even make the list.

As Jane Garvey, a Woman’s Hour presenter, tweeted on the day: “I’m looking forward to presenting @BBCWomansHour today. We’ll be discussing #GenderPayGap . As we’ve done since 1946. Going well, isn’t it?”

The salary list shows the BBC’s top earner, radio presenter Chris Evans, is paid between £2.2m and £2.25m – more than four times the corporation’s highest earning woman Claudia Winkleman. Meanwhile, Tess Daly, Claudia’s Strictly co-host earns up to £100k less. Why is that?

It doesn’t matter what gender you are, this situation really isn’t right.

Equal pay is not some pipe dream, it needs to happen and it needs to happen now.