THE BBC announce the salaries of various high-ranking celebs and there is a media outcry, predictably, that there is a gender pay gap and women are losing out (“BBC braced for another sexism row after stars’ pay revealed”, The Herald, July 20). The Director-General of the BBC announces it will do better in addressing this inequality in pay.

Why are the media not questioning the amount of these salaries such as Chris Evans, £2.2 million; Graham Norton, £850,000; Gary Lineker £1.75 million, and others?

We've got nurses and firefighters going to food banks in this country. We've got campaigns for people to sponsor a new school uniform for kids from poorer families and for sanitary products to be provided free to secondary-aged girls. The Government has announced the bringing forward of the raising of the retirement age.

We are continually being told this is a modernised, forward-looking developed country and polity. My question is: why are the media not saying that these things are outrageous?

John McArthur,

131 Crowhill Street, Glasgow.

MOST people will have been surprised at the salaries paid out to the BBC stars. Some, like John Humphries, are worth the money but others seemed to have very good agents. However, the one that shocked me was the £400,000 paid to Derek Thompson who plays Charlie Fairhead in Casualty. For one thing, he cannot act. He comes on, stares into space and mumbles some trite nonsense and then he is off. For that he gets about £7,670 an episode.

There is something amiss about the priorities of the BBC management.

Richard McLellan,

4 Stag Park, Lochgilphead, Argyll.

AS an increasingly grumpy old man, one of my many pet hates is the constant use, or rather misuse, of the simple word ”earn”. My Chambers dictionary defines the meaning as “to gain by labour, to acquire, to deserve”.

In your front-page report of BBC remuneration packages it is stated that “96 people from its on-screen talent earned more than the Prime Minister”. The persons named may have received or collected such eye-watering annual sums, but in no circumstance did the majority actually “earn” them. (In the case of many of those named, I might also question the word “talent”, but that is for another debate).

We also frequently hear about vastly over-rated footballers “earning” a million pounds a week, or company chairmen “earning” vast salaries. In today’s Letters Pages (July 20) Kenneth Fisher notes that partners of one London legal firm “earned” more than £1 million each” and that “the financial press has reported “earnings” of more than £700,000 each for the partners of the big four accountancy firms”.

With respect to all these no doubt expert practitioners, I would doubt if their daily efforts merited such rewards, although there scale was no doubt matched by the eye-watering fees they charged their clients.

I look forward to The Herald leading a campaign to purge the media of the constant lazy misuse of the word “earn”, and if so you will earn my undying gratitude.

Iain AD Mann,

7 Kelvin Court, Glasgow.