Gary Lineker's tweet

NEW: Sky News understands the BBC statement on Gary Lineker is incorrect.

That Lineker has not agreed to 'step back', and has instead been taken off air as he is unwilling to apologise for his comments this week on social media.

I’d love it if Gary was on The Last Leg tonight!

Nan0

We are grotesquely overpopulated especially in the South East..do you ever drive on the motorways or see all the mass housing estates wrecking your local landscapes built on green fields and flood plains..Are you aware of the endless conurbation spreading all the way round Reading , soon Slough will join to Maidenhead and Reading from London, and from Reading to Bracknell , all of Surrey, And join up with Southampton, and its horrific from Brighton to Chichester to Portsmouth to Southampton to Poole right into Dorset. As for Exeter and Plymouth..its just heartbreaking.In the North Manchester Liverpool Leeds Bradford and Luton! Quel horror, and the litter along every stretch of the roadsides is just enough to make one despair.

Those pesky boat people. Coming over here: throwing litter everywhere….

Nan0

We are grotesquely overpopulated especially in the South East..do you ever drive on the motorways or see all the mass housing estates wrecking your local landscapes built on green fields and flood plains..Are you aware of the endless conurbation spreading all the way round Reading , soon Slough will join to Maidenhead and Reading from London, and from Reading to Bracknell , all of Surrey, And join up with Southampton, and its horrific from Brighton to Chichester to Portsmouth to Southampton to Poole right into Dorset. As for Exeter and Plymouth..its just heartbreaking.In the North Manchester Liverpool Leeds Bradford and Luton! Quel horror, and the litter along every stretch of the roadsides is just enough to make one despair.

What does that have to do with Gary Lineker's tweet?

He won’t keep quiet about things he believes in. It wouldn’t surprise me if the BBC has told him to stop tweeting and he’s refused. But it’s still ok that the Director General of the BBC helped disgraced ex PM to secure a loan isn’t it?

We are grotesquely overpopulated especially in the South East..do you ever drive on the motorways or see all the mass housing estates wrecking your local landscapes built on green fields and flood plains..Are you aware of the endless conurbation spreading all the way round Reading , soon Slough will join to Maidenhead and Reading from London, and from Reading to Bracknell , all of Surrey, And join up with Southampton, and its horrific from Brighton to Chichester to Portsmouth to Southampton to Poole right into Dorset. As for Exeter and Plymouth..its just heartbreaking.In the North Manchester Liverpool Leeds Bradford and Luton! Quel horror, and the litter along every stretch of the roadsides is just enough to make one despair.

And Gary had been so confident he'd be presenting MOTD tomorrow.

Looks like he'll have to leave the BBC unless he tones down his Twittering.

He'll be fine. I'm sure he's being headhunted as we speak.

FannyCornforth

*BREAKING NEWS*

Lineker is ‘stepping back from the BBC’ until they have had a discussion regarding use of social media

I don't suppose Lineker is the slightest bit concerned about it.

I trust the people who are always going on about free speech will defend him.

Keeleklogger

Because he's rich and the BBC won't sack him. The fact this made the BBC news is basically them laughing in the governments face just like they've flaunted rules in the past and using the story to further push their left wing politics.

A shame really because no matter what you think about Lineker's opinions he is a sports presenter, if he wants to get political he needs to cut ties with the BBC and use his own platform. But both he and the BBC won't do that, their political opinions is the same as Lineker and they'll use each other to push their politics when the rules state they have to be impartial.

Will Westminster and the govt stop the BBC using loop holes to break the rules? Nope, so they deserve all the shit the BBC gives them

The BBC is in no position to "sack" Lineker; he is not employed by them. They could refuse to renew his contract as he is a freelancer. However, if I were them, I would be very careful about doing that. We have freedom of speech in this country. He was speaking for himself. Speaking on a platform that has nothing to do with the BBC.

"Impartial" would mean that both sides are heard not just the perverted view of the world from the far right. Just think of all those who were persuaded to think of "others" as vermin, etc. There is no difference between how the "enemy" was defined in the 1930s and how the unwise words of people such as Braverman define the "enemy" for all who think they need someone to blame.

In both cases, these people had done nothing to be castigated in this way. It was/is simply political expediency for those who wanted/want power.

Oh, I already said that.
Apologies. 🙄

FannyCornforth

*BREAKING NEWS*

Lineker is ‘stepping back from the BBC’ until they have had a discussion regarding use of social media

Sorry, that should say stepping back, as opposed to down

ordinarygirl

I understand that he tweeted as Gary and not as an employee of the BBC. So his opinion and not an opinion of the BBC.
He did not liken any politician as a person similar to Hitler and his cohorts but just referenced the language.
I think he is entitled to his opinion . I disagree more with paying somebody so much money to talk about sport!

The only part of the tweet which was an opinion was "immeasurably cruel". The rest was factual.

I agree with you about paying him so much for talking about football, but I expect other broadcasters would snap him up and possibly pay him even more. However, that detracts from the issue here.

BREAKING NEWS

Lineker is ‘stepping back from the BBC’ until they have had a discussion regarding use of social media

parker

living in one of these poorer areas where people cannot get their children into schools because of the high number of immigrants, I see why they are not happy with the present situation. An asian friend has three children all in different schools because of lack of spaces.

I live in a rich area, but parents can't get their children into schools either. We don't have a high number of immigrants. The issue is that the council won't/can't fund new schools.

sundowngirl

So you are happy that we are paying nearly £7M a day to keep them in 4 star hotels? We have our own veterans sleeping on the streets, nurses leaving in droves because they are underpaid, the NHS is at breaking point, people choosing between eating and heating etc etc. We do not have the housing or infrastructure for the estimated 80,00 arriving in small boats this year together with the 45,000 last year, a majority of whom come from Albania, a safe country. Wouldn't you want this money better spent? Labour have no better proposal to solve the problem do they?

What a load of rot.

The Tories have done nothing but go backwards for the last 13 years and during that time they have built up the ogre of "them" as you call those seeking asylum sundowngirl.

They are now going to try and look as if they are doing something positive because they don't want their party wiped out.

This is all as close to the far-right propaganda in the 1930s as they can get - further than they should be allowed to. There are always those who follow because they press the right, very nasty buttons. It seems you are one.

living in one of these poorer areas where people cannot get their children into schools because of the high number of immigrants, I see why they are not happy with the present situation. An asian friend has three children all in different schools because of lack of spaces.

Jenni Murray was disciplined for her views. They have been inconsistent that is their problem here.

Indeed Maizie, impartiality my foot!

A shame really because no matter what you think about Lineker's opinions he is a sports presenter, if he wants to get political he needs to cut ties with the BBC and use his own platform. But both he and the BBC won't do that, their political opinions is the same as Lineker and they'll use each other to push their politics when the rules state they have to be impartial.

It's very odd, though, that many people employed (or formerly employed) by the BBC, such as Alan Sugar and Andrew Neil, have tweeted political statements without anyone making a fuss at all. Could it be because they are right wing? Then there's Fiona Bruce pooh poohing Stanley Johnson's physical abuse of his wife because he only broke her nose once! Not to mention Laura K. querying a guest saying that Boris Johnson tells lies, when everyone knows that he couldn't lie straight in bed... Where is their 'impartiality'?

.

I understand that he tweeted as Gary and not as an employee of the BBC. So his opinion and not an opinion of the BBC.
He did not liken any politician as a person similar to Hitler and his cohorts but just referenced the language.
I think he is entitled to his opinion . I disagree more with paying somebody so much money to talk about sport!

TheHappyGardener

Fleurpepper - I meant bigger in terms of geographical size and so better-placed to accommodate population growth. And, in answer to your other question - France it would appear, presumably because they turn a blind eye and allow so many of the refugees to get on the small boats and head to the UK!

The UK is not over populated at all. It is under-funded. There are areas which are very populated, and huge swathes which are not. Geographical size is not the key, it is the number of immigrants (and how do you define an immigrant) per 100.000 of the population or per square km of land.

Indeed. And he is totally entitled to write what he wants on his private account on Twitter.

So what exactly is inaccurate about the tweet?

Lineker didn't say it during a BBC programme. It was on his Twitter account and I've copied and pasted exactly what he wrote.

He stated facts.

Wow! And now they want to shut Attenborough up- because of course the environment is 'political' ! Left-wingers did you say!?!

Because he's rich and the BBC won't sack him. The fact this made the BBC news is basically them laughing in the governments face just like they've flaunted rules in the past and using the story to further push their left wing politics.

A shame really because no matter what you think about Lineker's opinions he is a sports presenter, if he wants to get political he needs to cut ties with the BBC and use his own platform. But both he and the BBC won't do that, their political opinions is the same as Lineker and they'll use each other to push their politics when the rules state they have to be impartial.

Will Westminster and the govt stop the BBC using loop holes to break the rules? Nope, so they deserve all the shit the BBC gives them