A BBC newsreader has caused controversy by calling on bosses to give her and other women presenters a clothing allowance.
Jane Hill – who earns between £80,000 and £100,000 a year – said her male counterparts need only to change their ties, while a woman’s appearance on screen is more important now than ever.
She said: ‘It’s expensive… as we have to buy all our own clothes. We’re criticised if we keep wearing the same thing, whereas male hosts only need new ties. Until that changes, we should get a dress allowance.’
Super scrimper: Emma Boon, campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, pays for her own clothesShe added in a piece for the Sunday Times Style magazine: ‘There’s more emphasis on appearance than ever, which is depressing, because it’s the new, not Strictly.
More... BBC newsreader admits she earns £92,000 How BBC stars can earn £100,000 and pay only 20% taxMen aren’t watched the same way – it’s fine for Philip Schofield to go grey, but female presenters can’t age.’
But Emma Boon, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance who also makes appearances on television, called Miss Hill’s demands unfair.
She said: ‘I’m expected to appear in public at speaking engagements and on television regularly. Like many women I don’t have a wardrobe allowance and buy all my work clothes out of my salary.’
She added: ‘Many men and women feel pressure to look good at work.
‘BBC presenters are paid for out of the licence fee and it simply wouldn’t be fair to expect viewers to fund a dress allowance on top of a salary for presenters, especially at a time when money is tight.
‘Thanks to our great British High Street shops it’s perfectly possible to look good without spending a fortune, lots of women do it every day.’
The presenter, who co-hosts the BBC News Channel daily between 11am and 2pm, also called on there to be more women foreign correspondents and said she has been patronised about her sexuality – she came out as gay in 2009.
She said: ‘I’m lucky to live in the capital: life is tougher for gay people in rural areas. I’m still patronised by intelligent people, though.’
Miss Hill lives with her partner and TV cameraman Sara Shepherd and announced on Twitter that the couple plan to have a civil ceremony.
The BBC revealed in a recent Freedom of Information request that its newsreaders do not get an allowance for clothes.
In a statement it said: ‘As a general rule BBC News presenters do not receive clothing allowances and there is no written policy as such.’
One BBC newsreader, Carrie Grace, revealed her salary during a heated interview in 2009. Labour peer Lord Foulkes turned the tables when asked about expenses, demanding to know the interviewer's salary. Grace, who was largely on the BBC News Channel said she earned £92,000.
