BBC presenter Jon Holmes claims he was sacked for being a white man

A BBC presenter has launched a scathing attack on the broadcaster’s diversity strategy, claiming he was sacked for being a white man.

Jon Holmes, a writer and comedian who has appeared on Radio 4’s The Now Show for 18 years, said he was told he was being fired from the programme because it was being recast with “more women and diversity”.

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, the award-winning broadcaster – who has presented shows on four other BBC radio stations and XFM, claimed he was in favour of properly representing Britain’s multicultural society, but that things had gone too far.

“Should I, as a white man (through no fault of my own), be fired from my job because I am a white man?” he asks. “Arguably, yes. You may well think I’m crap on The Now Show, and that’s fine, but to be told it’s because I’m the wrong sex and colour? I’m just not sure that’s helpful to anyone’s cause.”

Holmes, who has also worked in television, said his initial tweet about the issue on Monday had prompted other presenters, actors and agents to talk about similar experiences. He recounts the story of one agent who was told his client was “perfect for the role” but that they had been told “to cast someone Asian”.

Holmes said he was not motivated by sour grapes but by concern that the BBC was getting it wrong – a sentiment he claims is shared privately by many within the corporation.

“If we are now openly giving jobs to people based on the colour of their skin, surely that is only emphasising just the kind of social division that the equality that I was brought up to embrace strives to eliminate?” he writes.

“So what if – and I know this is radical – but what if everything and every job in all walks of life was open to everyone equally, and we all just agree that everyone’s the same, by which I mean – you know – ‘human’?”

The BBC’s former director general Greg Dyke famously labelled the corporation in 2001 as “hideously white”, since then it has been under pressure to increase the diversity of its workforce.

On Tuesday the Ofcom chief executive, Sharon White, warned that broadcasters could face tougher penalties and “harder-edged” regulation if they do not increase diversity.

The comedian Sir Lenny Henry has been at the forefront of a campaign for more black, Asian and minority ethnic people on screen and in writing, producing and directing. He has called for ringfenced funding in a bid to increase diversity in television.

Holmes said he understood and agreed with Henry and White, but that positive discrimination was not the answer. “Personally I want equal opportunities for all, irrespective of who or what they are,” he said. “So maybe we should open up the debate.”

A BBC spokesman said: “While the government’s new charter for the BBC does set us diversity targets, we always hire presenters on merit. We’d like to thank Jon Holmes for his contribution but our comedy shows are constantly evolving and it was simply time to create opportunities for new regulars when The Now Show returns this autumn.“Jon’s contract was lapsed and wasn’t renewed and this was a creative not a diversity decision.”