Fern Britton in dramatic Gary Lineker U-turn

Fern Britton went from showing little sympathy for Gary Lineker after he was suspended by the BBC, to defending him and blasting the government’s attitude towards refugees in a matter of hours. The 65-year-old author, once a regular face on ITV’s This Morning, clarified that her stance had changed due to an apparent misunderstanding of the rules.

More than 136,000 Twitter followers looked on as Fern launched her surprising and sudden U-turn.

Last night, she wrote: “Whilst I share @GaryLineker’s view on the migrant refugees, he has signed a contract.

“I have signed a few and all of them ask that you are impartial. I’d say that includes sport teams as well as political teams.”

She added: “It may not be fair but that’s what you sign.”

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Yet, another tweet followed hours later, in which she hit out at Gary’s channel over his suspension from Match of the Day.

“It’s now thought that @GaryLineker might not be bound to the kind of contract a lot of us have been,” she continued.

“If that is the case I can stop being so old school! While I’m at it, the inhumanity of this govt towards desperate refugees is appalling.”

As a final parting shot, she insisted ominously that “BBC bosses are in the s**t”.

A statement from the BBC had previously been published suggesting that he had breached their “impartiality” rules by taking sides so publicly on the government’s new Immigration Bill.

Gary had described it as “immeasurably cruel” and said the language used echoed that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The channel declared: “We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him.”

However, it also added: “We have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies.”

During a talk with the channel, Gary reportedly refused to apologise for his views, which led to the current suspension.

After fellow presenters such as Alex Scott pulled out in order to show solidarity for him, the BBC opted to make this weekend’s Match of the Day show free from any punditry at all.

Following the shock decision, the Twitterverse has been discussing Gary’s situation feverishly, and asking each other whether or not the BBC’s treatment of him constitutes censorship.

Fern made her changed stance known, leading @elinf288 to challenge: “Even if he isn’t [breaching his contract’s rules], it’s also insulting to imply and compare this to 1930s Germany.”

@Lindsay3668 agreed: “Using the word Nazi as a slur or insult is in poor taste for anyone who graces our tv screens,” and added that it was “only used by people with no counter argument or solution [to the immigration issues].”

@GeorgieLondon7 chimed in to say: “Britain has possibly been the most generous place for refugees that’s why so many want to come!!

“But something has to change ’cause 45000 new people arriving a year isn’t sustainable or fair on everyone who need to use public services like the NHS!”

However, followers like @TattooLane supported Fern, saying: “Glad you’ve made a U-turn there Fern. Gary is allowed to speak out against injustice, as are we all. My understanding is that it’s only newsreaders and political commentators at the BBC who have to remain impartial, not private citizens.”

Meanwhile, @MattPPea asked: “How can you be ‘impartial’ about cruelty and inhumanity? The BBC seems to have gone a bit doodah.”

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