‘Why is Nick paid £100,000 more than me to do the same job?’
Today presenter Justin Webb says it is not just the women at the BBC who feel the pay gap is unfair
JUSTIN WEBB, one of the hosts of the Today programme on Radio 4, has questioned why his colleague Nick Robinson is paid £100,000 more to do “essentially the same job”.
The uncomfortable topic of pay was raised as the pair appeared on the same panel together, with Robinson even offering his co-presenter cash after Webb jokingly complained they had split the bill for dinner equally. Webb said the gender pay gap revealed at the BBC this summer was “really, really serious”, with women working for the corporation having a genuine grievance which must be resolved. But, he said, there was also a “wider fairness issue”, which Robinson joked had affected their relationship “quite a lot”.
According to a report into the BBC’S highest-paid stars released earlier this year, John Humphrys, the veteran Today presenter, is paid up to £650,000 a year, including his fee for Mastermind, while Robinson is paid up to £300,000.
Webb is paid up to £200,000, despite joining Today six years before Robinson. The show’s long-standing female presenter, Sarah Montague, did not appear on the list of those who earn £150,000 or more. Her colleague, Mishal Husain, receives up to £250,000 for Today and other BBC work.
Asked about the gender pay gap at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, during an event celebrating 60 years of Today, Webb and Robinson discussed their varying pay in an apparently jocular onstage appearance.
Saying he was paid more than his costars partly because he was recruited by the corporation from ITV, Robinson told an audience: “Justin is gently not pointing out that I’m paid more than he is, for example. There are a lot of factors at play.”
Webb replied: “That doesn’t detract from what the women quite rightly are upset about. They have a genuine grievance, there’s no question about it, and in a sense that is the most serious.
“But there is also a wider fairness issue. Nick is paid £100,000 or so a year more than me essentially to do the same job. Does that affect our relationship with each other?”
Interrupting, Robinson joked: “Quite a lot, actually.”
Webb added: “We had dinner last night and still split the bill.”
Asked what should be done to ensure parity between the sexes, Webb said: “The BBC has said that it is going to address it and address it quickly.
“The women who particularly are affected, although it’s not just women, are waiting – I was going to say patiently but I think it’s fair to say impatiently – to discover how it will be tackled and when. I think the consequences for the BBC if it fails to deal with it will be pretty grey.”
The programme’s editor, Sarah Sands, was said last week to be “too scared” to ask Humphrys and Robinson to take a salary cut, but feared pay increases for their female colleagues would take money away from investigations and foreign reporting.
Robinson is said to have ruffled feathers at the Radio 4 flagship show, with colleagues reportedly raising concerns about his “uncollegiate” behaviour and desire to present on important occasions. A full review into BBC talent pay is due by the end of the year.