The BBC has reprimanded its football presenter Gary Lineker for comparing British refugee policy with Nazi Germany. The former English national player will be “reminded of his responsibility”, said the public broadcaster on Wednesday night. Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay told the Telegraph newspaper that Lineker’s comment was “lazy, ill-conceived and shameful”. The BBC must fire the 62-year-old.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Lineker described the conservative British government’s new asylum law as “beyond terrible”. When criticized that he was “out of order,” he replied: “This is an immeasurably cruel policy, directed against the most vulnerable people, in a language that is that of Germany in the 1930’s, and I’m not entirely out of my mind?”
The British government wants to first hold migrants who enter the country without official permission in shelters and then expel them to Rwanda or other countries. The right to apply for asylum should be taken away from them. The plans could violate the European Convention on Human Rights. Interior Minister Suella Braverman had spoken of an “invasion” in view of the increasing number of people entering the country via the English Channel. The number has increased from 300 in 2018 to 45,000 last year.
Criticism of Lineker’s comment also came from the vice leader of the Conservative Party. “It’s just another example of how little these overpaid stars have to do with the voting public,” Lee Anderson wrote on Twitter. “Rather than lecturing others, Mr. Lineker should be declaring football scores and selling chips.”
The BBC is committed to clear neutrality. The editorial guidelines also state that “public comments made by staff or presenters, for example on social media, may affect the BBC’s perception of impartiality”.
Lineker, who has around 8.6 million followers on Twitter, has repeatedly criticized the Conservative government in the past and, according to the BBC complaints office, violated the principle of impartiality as early as October last year. At the time, he asked the Conservative Party on Twitter whether they were planning to “return their donations from Russia”. The ex-forward is believed to be the highest-paid BBC presenter with a base salary of £1.35m (€1.51m).
