Robert Peston openly mocked by BBC colleagues after ITV threat

'I want to publicly offer to stand aside as presenter and offer my job to Robert'

Robert Peston first joined the BBC in 2006 as Business editor (BBC)

Some of the BBC's most famous presenters have begged Robert Peston to stay in a spoof on-air appeal.

ITV has reportedly tried to poach the BBC's economics editor, prompting several of his colleagues to jokingly offer him their jobs. Jonathan Dimbleby, presenter of Any Questions, described it as the "most serious crisis facing the BBC" and offered Mr Peston Any Questions. Huw Edwards, Nicholas Parsons and Eddie Mair also took part in the stunt on the PM programme on BBC Radio 4. 

Parsons quipped that Peston's ability to talk with "clarity and smoothness" made him the perfect candidate for a slot on his show Just A Minute, while Mair - who has clashed horns with Peston before - joked he would give the presenter his kidney. "The very suggestion of Robert wanting to leave the BBC makes me want to cry my eyes out, literally. I want to publicly offer to stand aside as presenter of PM and offer my job to Robert as part of his burgeoning portfolio of programmes. I'm also prepared to sell my kidney if it in increases the amount of money the BBC can afford to offer," he said.