John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says:

“The Beeb is now taking baby steps in tackling top salaries. But these BBC pay packets are picked from the pockets of pensioners and taxpayers, who are fed up of the licence fee full stop. This is a move in the right direction, but it’s high time we axed the TV tax and stopped taxpayers’ money going to these media millionaires.”