SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies has accused the BBC of being like an old boys club in the row over equal pay.

He alleged in the House of Commons that the broadcaster was acting illegally in paying its women less than men.

He cited an appointment by Lord Hall in 2013 of former Labour minister James Purnell to a “very highly paid job” without advertising as proof the organisation was not being run properly.

Mr Davies urged Government to comment on whether the BBC was acting illegally with regards to its former China Editor Carrie Gracie who resigned over equal pay.

He suggested it was not that women at the BBC were paid too little, but that many men were paid too much, and their salaries should be “levelled down”.

Newly appointed Culture Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is about equal pay and appropriate levels of pay in an organisation that is funded by licence fee payers who want to have a television, whether they like it or not.”