The latest BBC presenter Alex Scott says that she is proud of her London accent after ex-House of Lords member Digby Jones criticised her pronunciation.
Lord Jones tweeted on Friday she spoils a good presentational job on the BBC Olympics Team with her very noticeable inability to pronounce her 'g's at the end of a word. Scott said she was "proud" to be from a working class family in east London.
Lord Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham, added she was hot on the heels of Beth Rigby at Sky and Home Secretary Priti Patel. He said that they should all be given some kind of elocution lessons. in replying to the comment, former Arsenal and England footballer Scott said: "Any young kids who may not have a certain kind of privilege in life should not allow judgments on your class, accent, or appearance hold you back".
Former director-general of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry), Labour transport minister and a member of the House of Lords, Lord Jones, who was educated at Bromsgrove School, a co-educational independent boarding school, later responded saying that Scott, who is said to have attended Langdon Park School, a mixed secondary school in Poplar, in east London, should not play the "working class card" as she was worthy of much better. He added: "I admire and often publicly praise the adversity you faced and defeated to achieve all the success you deserve.
"Not sounding a g at the end of a word is wrong; period. It's not a question of class, it's not a question of accent, it's a question of poor elocution. Don't let it spoil your otherwise excellent performance." Scott, who has recently been announced as the new host of the BBC's Football Focus, received support from many including colleagues and politicians, including
Labour MP Dawn Butler who replied telling her: “Just keep rising."
Ms Butler’s fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips tweeted that regional accents added "to the joy of the Olympics coverage". Golfer Thomas Bjorn, former footballer Micah Richards and ex-rugby international Will Carling added to the many voices of support, while Arsenal Women tweeted: "Keep being you, AlexScott. Forever proud!"
Fellow-BBC presenter Eilidh Barbour also defended Scott on Twitter writing: "This thread is what makes AlexScott such a wonderful role model. Keep rising girl."
