BBC 'slaps down' Gary Lineker over Nazi slur over migrant boats crisis

2023-03-08

Suella Braverman blasts Gary Lineker for Nazi slur after Match of the Day star compared migrant crackdown to 1930s Germany: Ex-footballer comes under fire as he’s slapped down by BBC bosses and MPs call for him to be sacked in latest impartiality row

The corporation’s highest-paid star will be rebuked by bosses over tweets
He used his Twitter account to describe the plans as ‘immeasurably cruel’

Suella Braverman today publicly slapped down Gary Lineker after he compared her migrant boats crackdown to the policies in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

The corporation’s highest-paid star, who earns £1.35million a year from the licence fee payer, will be ‘spoken to’ by his bosses today – but viewers and MPs insist he’s gone too far and must be fired for another impartiality breach.

Speaking today the Home Secretary said Gary Lineker’s comments were ‘disappointing’.

She told the BBC: ‘I think it’s unhelpful to compare our measures, which are lawful, proportionate and – indeed – compassionate, to 1930s Germany.

“I also think that 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 here illegally at huge cost to the taxpayer and undermining our laws, and, in fact, British generosity. That needs to stop’.

The Match of the Day host has been repeatedly told off by the BBC about his often left-wing tweets. In October last year he was found to have broken impartiality rules after criticising the Tories and Liz Truss – and has been warned several times before.

Craig Mackinlay, the Conservative MP for South Thanet, said the comments were a ‘step too far’ and that the BBC must sack Lineker. Jonathan Gullis, the Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, asked the public service broadcaster to ‘stand up’ to the outspoken presenter and ‘remind him his job is to talk football, not politics’.

Gary Lineker ‘crossed a line’ by comparing Suella Braverman’s migrant crackdown to Nazi Germany, BBC sources said last night. There are calls for him to be sacked

The corporation’s highest-paid star, who is on £1.35million a year, will be rebuked by bosses for attacking the Home Secretary’s plans to ‘stop the boats’

Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson said: ‘Instead of lecturing, Mr Lineker should stick to reading out the football scores and flogging crisps. This is just another example of how out of touch these overpaid stars are with the voting public’.

Lineker had shared online a video of Mrs Braverman outlining the Illegal Migration Bill, with the comment: ‘Good heavens, this is beyond awful.’ He then used his Twitter account, with 8.6million followers, to describe the plans as ‘immeasurably cruel’.

Accused of being out of order, the former England footballer, who has been criticised for previous anti-Tory comments, replied: ‘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?’

The remarks incensed Conservative MPs who accused the presenter of an ‘extraordinary and outrageous slur’.

Tory MP for South Thanet Craig Mackinlay said Lineker’s comments were a ‘step too far’ and called for the BBC to fire him, The Times reported.

The BBC said early today that Lineker would be ‘spoken to’ and ‘reminded of his responsibilities’.

Lineker, 62, is expected to be rebuked by bosses ‘very promptly’ a BBC source said. They added: ‘It’s clear that a line has been crossed.’

The row about Lineker’s tweets comes after he was found to have broken BBC impartiality rules for singling out Conservatives over having ‘Russian donors’ in a post in February last year.

In a radio interview, the presenter also described remarks by Mrs Braverman about the Rwanda removals policy as ‘pretty abhorrent’.

In September last year the BBC faced a backlash over claims it had forced a senior journalist to apologise to Lineker for criticising the Match of the Day host’s anti-Government tweets.

That same month, director-general Tim Davie was forced to address the continued controversy over Lineker’s politicised tweets when he appeared in front of MPs. The BBC boss said the presenter’s approach to impartiality was a ‘work in progress’, but he claimed his social media behaviour had undergone a ‘massive improvement’.

Mrs Braverman yesterday said judges at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg would be asked not to intervene in asylum policy. It is understood they will be told that if they fail to agree, UK domestic law will be changed to allow ministers to ignore their rulings.

All claims lodged by irregular migrants – such as small boat arrivals – will be ruled inadmissible as soon as they reach Britain. They will be detained, removed ‘in weeks’ to either their home country or a safe third country such as Rwanda – and banned from ever returning, Rishi Sunak said.

The vast majority will have to lodge appeals abroad. In other developments:

Mr Sunak said migrant removal flights to Rwanda could begin by the summer;
The PM vowed to overcome opposition in the courts and Parliament;
Mrs Braverman warned there was a more than 50 per cent chance her Bill would fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights;
Writing in the Mail today, she says ‘Establishment forces’ have blocked previous attempts to solve the Channel crisis;
The UN’s refugee agency is ‘profoundly concerned’ by the plans, which it says amount to an asylum ban;
It emerged that an Afghan waiting in a French camp to take a small boat to the UK was deported from Britain in 2019 after raping a girl of just 12;
TikTok said it was cracking down on adverts by human traffickers.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay (left) said Lineker’s comments were a ‘step too far’ and called for the BBC to fire him, The Times reported. Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis (right), said the BBC should ‘stand up’ to the presenter

Rishi Sunak said migrant removal flights to Rwanda could begin by the summer

Conservative MP Bill Cash said: ‘I am really very angry he should make such an extraordinary and outrageous slur, which is complete and total rubbish. We are trying to help people who otherwise are being taken by criminals on these boats.’

Fellow Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith added: ‘It is not just insulting to this nation and the generosity of Brits, but also grossly offensive to the victims of one of the most evil regimes in history, which we also fought against and took many refugees from. Lineker is out of order and needs to get out of his metropolitan bubble and learn some perspective.’

The BBC’s guidance says of its high-profile stars: ‘We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues.’

A BBC spokesman said: ‘Individuals who work for us are aware of their responsibilities relating to social media. We have appropriate internal processes in place if required.’

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