Chris Evans and Gary Lineker would face huge pay cuts under Labour Top earning BBC stars such as Chris Evans and Gary Lineker would be forced by Labour to accept huge cuts […]

Top earning BBC stars such as Chris Evans and Gary Lineker would be forced by Labour to accept huge cuts in their salaries if they wanted to stay with the corporation.

A party spokesman confirmed that BBC staff would be covered by Labour’s policy pledge to introduce a maximum 20 to one ratio between the highest and lowest paid employees in public sector organisations.

Its stance implies that a ceiling of around £400,000 a year could be imposed on presenters and actors – a fraction of the £2.2m to £2.25m paid to Evans and the £1.75m to £1.8m paid to Lineker.

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Labour confirmed that its policies commitments for tackling income inequality would apply to the BBC.

Excess pay levy planned

They also include a higher income tax rate for the top five per cent of earners and an excess pay levy on organisations with staff paid more than £330,000.

Stars employed indirectly through independent production companies would not be caught by the pay ratio, the spokesman said.

“I want to see women paid equally with men. The only reason we know about this though is because the Government required the BBC to publish these figures” Theresa May

He described as “obviously wrong” the gender pay gap exposed by the figures, adding that Labour was “committed to gender equality audits enforced through law”.

Theresa May backed the policy of the BBC publicising its top salaries and condemned the gulf between the pay of women and men.

“I think what has happened today is we have seen the way the BBC is paying women less for doing the same job as the men.

“I want to see women paid equally with men. The only reason we know about this though is because the Government required the BBC to publish these figures,” she told LBC.

“The Director-General, Lord Hall, has said that he wants to change this, he wants to make progress, he wants to abolish this gender pay gap.

“We want to see him doing that too. I think it is important the BBC carries on publishing figures in the future so we can see the progress they are making.”