David Dimbleby the dinosaur shows BBC is sexist, says Anna Ford
Former newsreader Anna Ford has stoked up the BBC sexism row by branding David Dimbleby and John Simpson "dinosaurs".
The 67-year-old, who left the BBC five years ago, was responding to the news that Dimbleby has been offered a five-year deal to remain the host of Question Time.
It would mean he would be at the helm of the flagship politics show until he is 77, presenting 30 editions a year at £15,000 a time.
Ford left the BBC because she could not face the prospect of being "shovelled off into News 24 to the sort of graveyard shift".
She said: "I wonder how these charming dinosaurs such as Mr Dimbleby and John Simpson continue to procure contracts with the BBC, when, however hard I look, I fail to see any woman of the same age, the same intelligence and the same rather baggy looks."
She told the Telegraph she was reluctant to speak out because "a woman who draws attention to such things tends to be demonised as 'aggressive' or 'strident'."
Her comments came as it was claimed that the BBC's plans to move production for half of its programmes outside of London could cost more than £1 billion. The National Audit Office revealed that the new Media City site in Salford is likely to cost £877 million to run, while £157 million could be needed for hotels and taxi bills.
