Gary Lineker, the host of Match of the Day on BBC, has stood firm on his criticism of the UK government’s immigration policy despite facing backlash from both politicians and BBC news staff for breaching impartiality rules.
Lineker faced criticism after comparing the language used during the announcement of the Illegal Migration Bill with 1930s Nazi Germany.
Lineker has doubled down on his remarks, and when asked if he feared suspension over his tweets, he told reporters “no.”
Richard Ayre, the BBC’s former controller of editorial policy, warned that BBC’s boss Tim Davie might have to “let him go” unless he can be certain that this is the end of it.
Ayre described Lineker as “one of the BBC’s crown jewels,” adding that comparing Suella Braverman to the Third Reich is unacceptable.
Ayre also mentioned a separate investigation into chairman Richard Sharp, who was alleged to have helped Boris Johnson get an £800,000 loan before the then prime minister backed his appointment to the corporation.
There are concerns at the BBC that Lineker’s remarks were “harming the perception” of the broadcaster, and many BBC journalists are boiling about it because impartiality must be sacrosanct
. Another insider said it was time for Mr Davie to “make a key call” on Lineker’s future. BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter Mr Robinson yesterday highlighted the discrepancy with the strict rules about impartiality that the broadcaster’s news staff must follow.
Lineker retweeted a post calling Home Secretary Suella Braverman “utterly devoid of sensibility” after her exchange with a Holocaust survivor. Many were astonished that, rather than avoiding further controversy, Lineker was back on Twitter yesterday.
However, former BBC director Roger Mosey said the BBC’s presenters must abide by the BBC’s rules, and in the case of Lineker, it clearly would be better for the BBC if he wasn’t on one side of the referendum debate and if he wasn’t criticizing current serving politicians.
»Lineker defiant on immigration«
↯↯↯Read More On The Topic On TDPel Media ↯↯↯