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BBC Suspends Gary Lineker For Breaching Impartiality Guidelines After Criticising UK Government’s Asylum Policies
Gary Linekar (Pic Via The Guardian)
BBC has suspended Gary Lineker, the main host of 'Match Of The Day' show for breaching impartiality guidelines after criticising the UK government’s asylum policies.
The British broadcaster took the decision to remove its highest-paid presenter from its flagship football show after he was criticised by the Ministers and MPs of the Conservative party over his tweets criticising Rishi Sunak government's new asylum policy.
He likened the language used by ministers about asylum seekers to “that used by Germany in the 30s”, a comparison labelled “offensive” by the UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman.
In a statement, BBC said it considered Lineker's "recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines".
It added he should "keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies".
The BBC asked Lineker to step back after "extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days".
It "decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we've got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media", the statement said.
A BBC spokesperson said Lineker would be off air until an agreement was reached on his future use of social media, The Guardian reported.
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman outlined the government's plans to ban people arriving in the UK illegally from ever claiming asylum, in a bid to address a rise in the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats.
Lineker reacted to it on Twitter calling it an "immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s".
Braverman hit out at Lineker's tweet, saying it "diminishes the unspeakable tragedy" of the Holocaust.
Speaking on the BBC's Political Thinking podcast, the UK Home Secretary said the Nazi comparison was "lazy and unhelpful" and said her family "feel very keenly the impact of the Holocaust" as her husband is Jewish.
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