Culture Secretary Blasts BBC For 'Sexist Sport'

Culture Secretary Maria Miller has written to the BBC demanding action over presenter John Inverdale's offensive comments about Wimbledon winner Marion Bartoli.

In a scathing letter to director general Lord Hall, Mrs Miller raised concerns with the corporation's bosses over Inverdale's remarks that Bartoli was "never going to be a looker".

Although Inverdale has appeared to escape censure by writing to the player to apologise for his remarks, Mrs Miller asked what "further action" was going to be taken against him in light of the hundreds of complaints the BBC had received.

She said it was vital that coverage of women athletes was as "inclusive and positive as possible".

Inverdale caused outrage with his comments about the Wimbledon singles champion on Radio 5 live shortly after she defeated Germany's Sabine Lisicki on Centre Court.

He told listeners: "Do you think Bartoli's dad told her when she was little 'You're never going to be a looker, you'll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight?'."

His comments triggered some 700 complaints and a stream of outrage on Twitter, where one user branded him a "sexist dinosaur" and another called for him to be sacked.

Mrs Miller wrote in her letter: "It is ... a matter of some concern to me that any comment on the looks and stature of a female athlete could be made in the context of one of the highlights of the UK's, and indeed the world's, sporting calendar.

"I am sure you will agree with me that it is vital that young women and girls in this country feel motivated both to take part in and to watch coverage of sport, and to know that they are included in the enjoyment of sport and catered for by the media just as much as the male audience."

However, in a robust response, Lord Hall told Mrs Miller there would be no further action taken against Inverdale and the BBC had put in a number of measures to improve coverage of women in sport.

He wrote: "I agree that the comments made by John during the build-up to the Women's Final were totally unacceptable and fell well beneath the standards we expect of our presenters.

"John sincerely regrets that he made such an inappropriate statement and for the offence caused. As he said on air the following day, he has written to Marion Bartoli to apologise and the BBC has also apologised for John's remarks.

"In addition, the director of sport and the controller of 5 live have both spoken to John to make it clear that his comments were unacceptable and that an incident of this nature must never happen again."

The Culture Secretary is also boycotting the Open at Muirfield over the host links' refusal to admit female golfers, and believes the problems with the two highlights of the sporting calendar are sending out the wrong message.

Speaking on his weekly Call Clegg radio show on LBC, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg supported Mrs Miller's stance, saying: "I was just dismayed and incredibly surprised to hear this still goes on in this day and age.

"I find it so out of step with everything else that's happening in the rest of society. It just seems so old fashioned and so anachronistic to just have a golf club saying that just because you are a woman you can't be a member of that club.

"I think many people will just shake their head and say 'how on earth is this still possible in this day and age?'."

He added: "I'm dismayed the club does not accept women as members. I find that inexplicable in this day and age, I really do."

Talking about Mrs Miller's letter to the BBC he said it was "not the role of politicians to start second guessing" what journalists and broadcasters said.

But he added: "Of course we have got to be clear that what we don't want is sexism in sport and we don't want that reflected in the way it's reported."

He said: "I think it's a rare thing, the BBC, it speaks - it's supposed to speak, paid for by the taxpayer - for the whole nation. So of course when John Inverdale says something like that, people feel very strongly and they react very strongly."

The Prime Minister's spokesman said that Mr Cameron agreed with Mrs Miller on all-male golf clubs.

Shadow Culture Secretary Harriet Harman said: "After the recent successes of female sport it's an embarrassment that this year's British Open, a world class sporting event, is being held at a club which does not admit women members.

"It's time that Muirfield dragged itself into the 21st century and let women in. It's time to ban men-only sport clubs."

After his remarks, Inverdale attempted to clarify the "ham-fisted" comment on the following day and said he had written to Bartoli to apologise for using a "clumsy phrase".

He said: "The point I was trying to make in a rather ham-fisted kind of way is that the public perception of tennis players is that they're all six feet-tall Amazonian athletes.

"Marion, who is the Wimbledon champion, bucks that trend, and she is a fantastic example to all young people that it's attitude, and will and determination together obviously with talent that in the end gets you to the top.

"I've apologised to Marion by letter if any offence was caused and I do hope that we can leave the matter there."