Gary Lineker has stated that he “does not fear suspension by the BBC” as a result of his Nazi Germany remarks, and he stands by his criticism of the government’s immigration policy.
On Tuesday, the Match of the Day host slammed the government’s recently revealed contentious policy to prevent illicit boats transporting migrants from reaching the UK.
The footballer-turned-pundit had responded to a video posted on Twitter by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in which she called for a new Illegal Migration Bill to’stop the boats,’ calling it a ‘immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 1930s.’
Lineker responded, ‘Of course,’ when reporters asked if he stood by his post on Thursday.
When asked ‘Do you fear getting suspended?’ he replied: ‘No’.
‘Good heavens, this is beyond awful,’ he wrote.
‘There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
‘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, and I’m out of order?’
Conservative legislators slammed his remarks and asked the BBC to take action.
After the statements, it was later claimed that Lineker had been contacted by the BBC, with some sources indicating that his career might be jeopardised, while Braverman has been invited to reply in interviews with Good Morning Britain and BBC Breakfast.
Braverman subsequently stated that she is ‘obviously disappointed’ by his remarks.
‘I think it is unhelpful to compare our measures which are lawful, proportionate and indeed compassionate to 1930s Germany,’ she said.
‘I also think we are on the side of the British people here.
‘It’s plain for anyone to see that the British people have had enough of this situation of thousands of people coming her illegally at huge cost to the taxpayer and undermining our laws and in fact the British generosity,’ she added while appearing on BBC News Breakfast on Wednesday.
Braverman added: ‘That needs to stop. We need to take necessary steps now to ensure that if you are coming here illegally you will be detained and will be removed and that is what this bill will do.’
Yet, amid criticism from Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson, some backed Lineker’s position, with controversial journalist Piers Morgan declaring he has “no problem” with the word.
‘Gary got a bit carried away, as he tends to do. We get into it quite regularly, this is what he does and he would say the same about me,’ he said.
‘We both have strong opinions, we both believe in what we say and we express them forcefully, but we agree to disagree and I have no problem with Gary Lineker, a football presenter, sports presenter, from giving his views.
‘He’s not a BBC news journalist, he’s not anchoring The News at 10 or Question Time or Newsnight, he’s a football presenter doing Match Of The Day and other major sporting events.
‘He’s a celebrity and a public figure, his eight and a half million followers want to know what he thinks about stuff. Why do we pretend that people like him exist in a sealed BBC bubble of perfect propriety, when no opinions exist?
‘Who cares what Gary Lineker really says about government policy on stuff? In the end he’s just a football presenter, and I don’t mean that to denigrate him, he’s very good at it. But he’s not a news presenter.
‘So it shouldn’t matter to the BBC’s news output what he thinks about the migrant situation.’
Morgan went on to add that had Lineker made his remarks while presenting Match Of The Day, the criticism would have been ‘deserved’.
When BBC director-general Tim Davie took over at the end of 2020, he warned workers about their use of social media, and social media standards have since been modified.
Workers were instructed to adhere to editorial rules and editorial control in the same manner as when producing BBC material.
He stated he had not enjoyed Lineker sharing his thoughts on suspected Qatari human rights abuses during coverage of last year’s World Cup event since it had “blended football and politics”.
“If you decide not to watch him because of opinions, that’s your right. But I don’t think you can be a campaigner for free speech as I am and just turn off the tap, because I don’t like the opinion I’m hearing,” he said.
“If Lineker was cheering the government for getting to grips with the migrant crisis, the very people now demanding he be fired would be wanting him to get a statue in Trafalgar Square.”
Lineker is a freelance broadcaster for the BBC, not a regular member of staff, and because he is not responsible for news or political material, he is exempt from the same impartiality guidelines.
For the sixth year in a row, he was named the BBC’s highest-paid on-air personality, receiving between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 in 2021/2022 for Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year.
A representative for Lineker declined to comment further to PA News Agency.