ES Views: It’s hard to compare like for like in BBC pay issue

Both your news report on the BBC’s “gender pay gap” and Anne McElvoy’s feature on the subject were disappointingly lacking in basic information [July 20].

How can readers form any sensible judgment of presenters’ pay if they don’t know how many hours these presenters work? One of the main reasons women in all types of jobs earn less than men is because more of them work fewer hours and have part-time jobs.

To what extent does this explain what you describe as the “gargantuan pay discrepancies” at the BBC? For example, you make a comparison between Emily Maitlis’s less than £150,000 pay and fellow Newsnight presenter Evan Davis, who gets between £250,000 and £299,999.

Yet Davis not only does Dragons’ Den as well as Newsnight but The Bottom Line on Radio 4 and other programmes, so it doesn’t seem to be either a direct or fair comparison.
Christine Eborall

The furore over the gender pay gap at the BBC is a total red herring. Of course the sexes should be paid equally, but the real scandal is how the BBC, a publicly funded corporation, came to pay obscene salaries “to reward talent”.

Is Claudia Winkleman really worth £150,000 more a year than Theresa May, regardless of what one thinks of a particular incumbent? Is Chris Evans’s national contribution really six times that of the Prime Minister, 40 times that of a senior NHS nurse on approximately £45,000? Of course not.

For the pay of every Chris Evans — whom I like — there are scores of talented entertainers who would be glad of a portion of his salary and tens of quality programmes that are not being made.
Simon Diggins

The BBC’s list of salaries for its top stars is outrageous, and I have no doubt there will be a demand from the lower-paid workers for a review. Perhaps John Humphrys and Chris Evans should set an example by having their pay reduced. Both have stated that they would work for less — now, perhaps, they should put their money where their mouths are.

Perhaps it could be redistributed to the lower-paid staff. I understand that some BBC employees are on very low pay yet they are the ones who are far more essential than these overrated “stars”.
M G King

While much has rightly been made of the gender gap in BBC pay, what really outrages the mass of people is the even bigger gap between these salaries and their own.

How can it be justifiable in a country that has millions struggling by on the minimum wage and going to food banks just to be fed, to be paying people £500,000 to read the news? It is obscene.
Paul Donovan

Current HS2 plans need reconsidering

The current HS2 plans involve large-scale demolition for an enlarged Euston station. This may not be necessary as there are provisional plans to reduce the number of services into Euston.

The Watford “DC” lines would be absorbed into an extended Bakerloo line, and the West Coast locals would join the Elizabeth cross-city line. With these developments, much less destruction of the area surrounding Euston would be required.

To implement this, HS2 would need to terminate temporarily at Old Oak Common until these plans are finalised. This would be no great hardship as Elizabeth line and Great Western connections would be available.

Once the long-term plans are settled, a reduced scheme could be developed with less damage to the area. With so much potential benefit, it would be disappointing if this was not considered.
David van Rest

Our judges will still use EU examples

Michel Barnier doesn’t appear to understand the operation of our common law system [“Brussels bust-up over Brexit bill”, July 20].

Even after the European Court of Justice is removed, British judges will still look at ECJ decisions, but it will be up to the British judges to decide. Indeed, this is a fundamental point about the Brexit process and the benefits of it in terms of who makes and applies our laws.
David Maitland-Wood

Ban the shipment of animal trophies

The global condemnation of Cecil the lion’s death clearly didn’t diminish hunters’ thirst for blood after Xanda, Cecil’s six-year-old son, became the latest victim of this cruel “sport”.

Majestic wild animals will continue to be slaughtered as long as slayers with something to prove can ship heads, tails and skins back home. More than 40 airlines have banned shipment of these grisly trophies and we are calling on others to join them.
Jennifer White, Peta

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Littering isn't being taken seriously enough

It is not just Oxford Street that is filthy [Letters, July 18]. There is rubbish everywhere in London and it really depresses me living here these days.

My local high street, Putney in south-west London, is strewn with rubbish on a Sunday morning after the bars and food outlets close on Saturday night.

On the street where I live there are cups and drink bottles all along it every morning left by local workmen — even when there is a dustbin two feet away.

On my morning walk from Waterloo to Blackfriars, I see drinks cans and coffee cups: I pick up at least five a day. At lunchtime the small gardens opposite our offices are littered with rubbish after city workers have made use of the free seating provided.

A lack of rubbish bins is part of the problem, as well as the increasing amount of takeaway food with extraneous packaging. But mainly it is because it has become socially acceptable just to throw rubbish in the street despite the environmental consequences.

If we really are the greatest city in the world, perhaps the Evening Standard could run a campaign in conjunction with City Hall and Keep Britain Tidy to solve this annoying problem?
Lydia Tapping

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Pre-season games have some value

People often say that pre-season friendlies are almost meaningless in football. But it certainly felt like an important step when the first Manchester derby outside of the UK was played in the United States in the early hours of Friday morning.

Chelsea played against Arsenal the following day in Beijing, and for both matches there was a significant crowd present. The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has always been keen on playing Premier League matches abroad. In these modern times when money dominates the sport, I wouldn’t rule it out becoming a reality soon.
Gary Hill

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