Gary Lineker is among many BBC presenters and stars who have hit back at Nadine Dorries’ comments about nepotism at the broadcaster.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the new Culture Secretary called the BBC an institution riven by bias and staffed by people ‘whose mum and dad worked there’.
Taking to Twitter, Lineker, who has been working as a BBC Sports presenter since he retired from professional football, shared his own thoughts on the matter.
‘My dad sold BBC,’ he said. ‘Bananas, Blackberries and Cherries at Leicester market if that counts?’
Lineker was not the only person who hit back at Dorries’ remarks.
Huw Edwards shared a picture of his family and wrote: ‘I know one spectacularly successful @BBCNews presenter whose parents were never on the BBC’s books and who made it ‘despite’ his state and non-Oxbridge education.’
‘Fancy that!’ added the BBC News at Ten presenter.
Call The Midwife star Stephen McGann also chimed in, calling for Dorries to release figures to back her claim.
He also quoted from a Guardian article about her comments referring to criticism the politician faced in 2013 for employing two of her daughters as her staff.
The move reportedly cost up to £80,000.
Actress and author Emma Kennedy, who won Celebrity Masterchef in 2012 shared her opinion on Twitter also sharing Dorries’ past behaviour.
Dorries’ comments were made during an outspoken appearance at the Tory conference yesterday where she linked the BBC’s next licence fee settlement to its ability to attract a more socially diverse workforce.
‘We’re having a discussion about how the BBC can become more representative of the people who pay the licence fee, and how it can be more accessible to people from all backgrounds, not just people whose mum and dad worked there,’ she said.
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