Tamara Rapajic
BBC sports broadcaster Gary Lineker was pulled from air following controversy over his recent tweet on the Illegal Migration Bill.
The clash was met with criticisms from Lineker’s fellow presenters who abandoned their hosting jobs in solidarity with Lineker, disrupting the BBC’s sports coverage over the weekend.
What happened?
Gary Lineker, former footballer and current sports broadcaster at the BBC, hit out against the Illegal Migration Bill on Twitter by comparing the language of the Bill to that used in 1930s Germany.
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?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 7, 2023
The tweet was labelled controversial because of the risk it poses to the BBC’s impartiality policies.
All BBC staff are bound by “due” impartiality. Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director General, is adamant that impartiality remains intact so the public can trust the BBC to report on stories with neutrality.
It was felt that Lineker’s tweet strayed from this.
The BBC released a statement announcing that Lineker would “step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”.
Match of the Day
Shortly after the statement, Lineker’s co-stars Ian Wright and Alan Shearer showed solidarity, announcing that they would not host either.
Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) March 10, 2023
I have informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night.
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) March 10, 2023
Saturday’s MOTD aired for a total of 20 minutes without presenters, commentators and pundits, after the likes of Jermaine Jenas, Micah Richards and Alex Scott also pulled out.
Sunday’s MOTD 2 also followed a reduced format.
Mark Chapman withdrew from hosting BBC Radio Five Live Sport, while BBC 5 Live’s Fighting Talk did not air on Saturday.
The BBC apologised for the disruption to its sports coverage over the weekend.
BBC1 will broadcast a much-reduced MOTD of just 20 mins duration tonight https://t.co/0rSuUcoxWn
— Dan Roan (@danroan) March 11, 2023
Politician’s reactions
Politicians have had mixed reactions to the clash.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has attempted to distance the government from the clash. In a statement released on Saturday at 6 pm, he said the situation is an issue for the BBC, not the government, and called on the broadcaster to resolve the issue quickly.
Many senior Conservative politicians, including Jeremy Hunt and Suella Braverman, have called for Lineker to apologise for his comment and breaching guidelines.
Despite this, many Labour MPs have accused BBC executives of bowing to government pressure in suspending Lineker for his remarks. Labour Party leader Sir Kier Starmer, and leader of the Lib Dems Ed Davey, called for BBC’s Richard Sharp to resign over this clash.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves also expressed that the decision to take Lineker off the air was out of proportion.
Resolution
Lineker will return to hosting sports for the BBC, and the BBC has apologised for removing him from MOTD. Lineker has thanked his colleagues for their support over the weekend. The BBC will launch an independent review into its social media guidelines.
Photo courtesy of K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
