When the BBC advertised for a weather presenter with a disability to improve its on-screen diversity, the Daily Telegraph said it was yet another real-life instance of the comedy W1A.
But in an unusual instance not of life imitating art but the government defending the BBC, the minister for disabled people, Justin Tomlinson, commended the corporation on its efforts to get more disabled people on-screen.
“Around 16% of working age adults in the UK are disabled; precisely 0% of BBC weather presenters are. I commend the corporation for trying to do something about that obvious imbalance,” said Tomlinson in a letter sent to the Telegraph on Friday.
“I know it can be amusing to poke fun at the political correctness of the BBC, particularly when there is a chance to compare its real-life actions to the storylines of W1A. But I was disappointed at the rather cynical reaction to its latest efforts to get more disabled people on screen.
“At this week’s state opening of parliament, Her Majesty the Queen outlined the government’s determination that the UK should achieve the highest employment rate in the G7. An important element of this will be closing the employment gap that exists between disabled people and everybody else.
“By engaging with employers through our Disability Confident campaign, we are already achieving great things. The latest statistics show a year-on-year increase of 238,000 disabled people in work – the equivalent of 650 more for every day of the year.”
