Now the BBC’s Huw Edwards takes ‘£120k salary cut’ in gender pay row
BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has seen up to £120,000 slashed off his salary as the corporation continues to battle accusations of discrimination.
Edwards, 56, has been at the broadcaster for more than three decades and is one of its top earners.
But he has now agreed a pay cut of up to 20 per cent after ‘lengthy and rather difficult’ negotiations, a source told the Daily Mail.
He previously took home between £550,000 and £599,999 a year. With a reduction of 20 per cent, Edwards could even see as much as £120,000 shaved off his salary – taking his current package closer to £450,000.
In January, the broadcaster started asking male stars to agree to salary reductions after it became clear that all of the top earners were men, causing a gender pay row to erupt.
Jeremy Vine and John Humphrys are among other leading names to have agreed cuts while Edwards’ salary is understood to have been lowered in recent weeks – with immediate effect. As well as his News at ten slot, he fronts major national events for the BBC, such as the royal wedding last month.
His stint at Windsor led to Edwards also making the news when he was widely complemented by viewers over his three-stone weight loss.
the BBC is making the pay amendments following an equal pay battle at the organisation that led to China editor Carrie Gracie resigning from her post after she discovered her salary was significantly lower than male counterparts in similar positions.
She was on £135,000 a year and she quit in protest at widespread ‘pay discrimination’ when it was revealed that colleagues such as at North America editor Jon Sopel were on up to £250,000.
In July last year the BBC revealed the pay of on-air talent earning more than £150,000. Shockingly, two thirds of stars on the list, including the top seven earners, were men.
Staff were so outraged that women at the organisation staged a protest outside the BBC’s headquarters. In an attempt to appease female talent at the corporation, some stars, including Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis, 47, were handed pay rises.
In January the BBC promised to draw up a new on-air pay framework with clear and narrow salary bands – but this has yet to be published.
the revelations surrounding
‘Widespread discrimination’
Edwards’ slimmed down pay comes after he was asked about a pay cut in an interview with City University’s magazine published this month. Edwards answered: ‘Who says? Have I taken a pay cut?’
In the interview, believed to have taken place several months ago, the piece says Edwards explained ‘that there is a difference between taking a pay cut and agreeing in principle to do so’.
But yesterday, a BBC source said his position had now changed. the source said: ‘the process has been lengthy and rather difficult but Huw is relieved an agreement has finally been reached.’
the BBC will not comment on the individual salaries of its workers.