How he joked about his huge salary in leaked tape

JOHN HUMPHRYS: The first question will be how much of your salary you are prepared to hand over to Carrie Gracie to keep her. And comments about your other colleagues, like our Middle East editor and the other men who are earning too much.

JON SOPEL: Obviously if we are talking about the scope for the greatest redistribution, I’ll have to come back and say, ‘Well yes Mr Humphrys, but...’

HUMPHRYS And I could save you the trouble as I could volunteer that I’ve handed over already more than you f****** earn. But I’m still left with more than anybody else, and that seems to me entirely just. Something like that.

SOPEL: Don’t.

HUMPHRYS: Oh dear God, she’s actually suggested you should lose money. You know that, don’t you? SOPEL: Yeah I have, yeah. HUMPHRYS: The idea is I’m not allowed to talk to her about it throughout the whole course of the programme. Not a word. SOPEL: Can we have this conversation somewhere else?