Gary Lineker’s criticisms of Tory immigration policies (a not dissimilar one to Republicans and their talk of an “invasion”) got him into hot water at the BBC this week. In one, he wrote: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.” Retract your comments or else, he was told. He chose or else. Since offering an abject apology wasn’t in the cards, the BBC suspended Lineker and told him he wouldn’t be appearing on “Match of the Day” on Saturday. In solidarity with the football legend, other hosts walked out as well.
Comedian/Fake Journalist Jonathan Pie with his take on the situation above.
Source: BBC
The BBC says it is having a “frank conversation” with Gary Lineker after the Match of the Day host tweeted critically about the government’s asylum policy.
Lineker said the language in which the plan was set out was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
The BBC has impartiality guidelines and the corporation said Lineker was being “spoken to” about his responsibilities.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she was “disappointed” by the comments.
On Tuesday, the government outlined its plans to effectively ban anyone arriving via an illegal route from claiming asylum in the UK.
Anyone found to have entered the country illegally will also be blocked from returning or claiming British citizenship in future.
The measure is part of attempts to address an increase in the number of people arriving in the UK via Channel crossings each year, which rose from around 300 in 2018 to more than 45,000 in 2022.
Braverman and the Conservatives were critical of Lineker’s comments and the BBC, a public broadcaster, acted as they saw fit. This in turn resulted in a revolt by other commentators. via the NY Times
By Saturday, the decision to remove Mr. Lineker from “Match of the Day” — a mainstay on British television since the 1960s that is watched by millions every weekend — had led not only his co-hosts, but also their potential replacements, related play-by-play commentators, and even players and coaches from the Premier League, to join the boycott. The Premier League told the 12 teams set to play matches on Saturday that they would not receive interview requests from the BBC — possibly to spare the broadcaster the indignity of having them rejected.
The revolt soon spread to other BBC sports programming as a stream of hosts and commentators on other programs announced that they, too, would refuse to work this weekend as a show of support for Mr. Lineker.
As for Mr. Lineker, he’s become a bit of a folk hero in some quarters for standing up to these awful people. His image seen at a Fatboy Slim concert last night.
