Jeremy Corbyn vows to slash salaries of BBC's highest-paid stars if Labour wins

'We have said again and again that there is a problem with excess pay and we need to address that'

Jeremy Corbyn has set out strict rules to curb 'excess pay' in the public sector – including the BBC (Reuters)

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to slash the salaries of BBC stars such as Gary Lineker and Chris Evans, if Labour wins power.

Labour said its manifesto promise to crack down on “excess pay” by introducing a maximum ratio of 20:1 in the public sector would apply to the BBC.

With some BBC salaries as low as £16,000 a year, it means the eye-watering pay of top-earners would have to be curbed to bring the corporation within the ratio. Mr Evans is the BBC's best-paid presenter with a salary of between £2.2m and £2.25m – while Match of the Day host Gary Lineker earns between £1.75m and £1.8m.

Labour also vowed that leading TV personalities would be hit with larger tax bills, while the BBC would have to pay a levy on each excess salary. A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: “We had in our manifesto a very clear position about the necessity of tackling excess pay at the top end, including our commitment to make the top five per cent of earners pay more tax.

“We would also have an excess pay levy for employers which applies to all salaries above £330,000.

The spokesman said the strict rules would apply to the BBC because it was “in the public sector”, adding: “We are committed to a direct limit – a ratio. We have said again and again that there is a problem with excess pay and we need to address that in different ways.”

Other celebrities facing a massive pay cut if Mr Corbyn wins power are Graham Norton, Jeremy Vine, Huw Edwards and Claudia Winkelman, according to the BBC figures.

The trade union Bectu said the lowest salary at the BBC is £16,000 a year – which means no one else at the corporation would be able to earn more than £320,000 a year under a Labour government. In order to avoid slashing the stars’ pay, those low salaries would have to be trebled or more, to fit within the 20:1 ratio – which appears impossible.

In the Commons, the Prime Minister said the BBC figures – which were released in the corporation's annual report – showed there are some people working in the public sector who are “very well paid”.

A spokesman for Mrs May said she was also concerned that the list of top-earners at the BBC was dominated by men. He said: “We are very pleased that the BBC have published this information today. It's an important thing that licence fee payers know where their money is going.

“It has thrown up some interesting information with regard to the gender pay gap and we also want to see it tackled. We think that in order for that t happen, this is a very important tool and we would like to see the BBC continue to publish this information.”

Labour ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman also took aim at the corporation, saying she was “frothing at the mouth” about the gender pay gap. She told Sky News: “What will come out of this is the transparency will mean that the self-perpetuating oligarchy of the old boys' network is going to be dead.”