Tory minister Tracey Crouch ‘snubbed John Humphrys interview following gender pay comments’
2 min read
Tracey Crouch reportedly declined to be interviewed on the Today programme after its presenter was recorded making light of a gender pay inequality row at the BBC.
John Humphrys joked to a male colleague about Carrie Gracie’s warnings over the salary gap at the broadcaster, days after the China Editor resigned her post in protest.
In a leaked conversation with John Sopel, he was heard to say: “Oh dear God. She’s actually suggested that you should lose money – you know that don’t you?”
The sports minister’s stance is said to have been followed by a number of other female MPs, who the Guardian say are using informal parliamentary networks to encourage a potential boycott.
Ms Crouch, who would not comment when contacted by the paper, reportedly told friends that a similar conversation between two male ministers would have sparked demands for an apology or that they be sacked.
She is said to have rejected a wider media round on the issue of loneliness, a move which led Today’s editor to raise the issue with Downing Street, which subsequently blamed logistics, according to insiders.
Former Tory minister Nicky Morgan is quoted in the paper as saying she too would now “think twice” about appearing on the programme, while Labour’s Stella Creasy said MPs wanted to wanted to “show solidarity”.
One guest who appeared on Today reportedly claimed a figure working there said it was struggling to attract senior women.
The BBC responded by saying a number of female ministers and shadow ministers had since appeared.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said, while acknowledging the minister had not appeared on Today: “Tracey Crouch spoke to a number of broadcasters, including the BBC, on her role leading the government’s new loneliness strategy.”
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