Presenter Samira Ahmed has won her employment tribunal against the BBC, which found she was underpaid by £700,000 compared to Jeremy Vine for similar work. The unanimous judgement ruled that her role hosting Newswatch was broadly similar to Vine’s work on Points of View, and the BBC failed to prove the pay gap was not due to sex discrimination.
The tribunal noted that Vine received £3,000 per episode while Ahmed was paid £440, a difference of more than six times. The BBC argued that the programmes required different skills and profiles, but the tribunal dismissed these claims, stating that the lighter tone of Points of View did not justify the disparity and that Vine’s humour came from scripts rather than personal skill.
Ahmed said: 'No woman wants to have to take action against their own employer. I love working for the BBC.' The BBC responded by praising Ahmed as an excellent journalist and expressing regret that the case went to tribunal, insisting that pay was not determined by gender. The corporation said it would work with Ahmed to move forward positively.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) general secretary Michelle Stanistreet confirmed the union would seek full back pay for Ahmed, with meetings scheduled with the BBC next week. The ruling is expected to encourage other women to bring similar equal pay claims.
