Alex Scott defends accent as former House of Lords member mocks it during Tokyo 2020 coverage

Alex Scott has defended herself after a former member of the House of Lords mocked her accent.

The former Arsenal footballer is now part of the BBC’s Olympics broadcasting team, and is currently covering the channel’s Tokyo 2020 coverage.

However, Lord Digby Jones recently said Scott should get elocution lessons to work on the way she pronounces words when presenting.

Lord Digby, who previously acted as Minister of State for Trade and Investment and retired from the House of Lords last year, tweeted: “Enough! I can’t stand it anymore! Alex Scott 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.Competitors are NOT taking part, Alex, in the fencin, rowin, boxin, kayakin, weightliftin & swimmin.

“She’s hot on the heels of Beth Rigby at Sky the Home Secretary for God’s sake! Can’t someone give these people elocution lessons? I fear that it may be aped by youngsters along the lines of the use of the moronic interrogative originally caused by ‘Neighbours’; on behalf of the English Language…..Help!”

‘Never allow judgments on your class, accent, or appearance hold you back’

Scott was quick to respond to Lord Digby’s tweets, as she took to Twitter to defend herself.

In a three-part thread on the social media site, Scott wrote:

“I’m from a working class family in East London, Poplar, Tower Hamlets & I am PROUD.

“Proud of the young girl who overcame obstacles, and proud of my accent!

“It’s me, it’s my journey, my grit.”

She went on to say: “A quick one to any young kids who may not have a certain kind of privilege in life.

“Never allow judgments on your class, accent, or appearance hold you back.

“Use your history to write your story.

“Keep striving, keep shining & don’t change for anyone”.

She then added: “Tweets like this just give me the energy to keep going. See you tomorrow.. live on BBC baby”.