To applaud Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, and think Suella Braverman is looking like a fool for not even understanding the comment

[Nimbostratus100]

Lineker called the immigration policy cruel, and compared the language and attitude of the government to 1930s Germany.

I hundred percent agree with him

Braverman started denying that anything that is happening in UK is comparable to the holocaust

She is spectacularly missing the point. The holocaust didn't happen in the 1930s

What happened in the 1930s was the slow and steady build up of racism and aggression and hate, that resulted in the holocaust in the 1940s

And the noises coming out of the government are very much like 1930s nazis

For those of you that don't have any interest in Match of the Day, Gary Lineker, the main presenter, has been suspended, in spite of being a sports commentator, and NOT a news reader or involved in current affairs programming, and NOT bound by the impartiality clause, and his two top fellow presenters have refused to appear without him

So either the BBC bosses (tory appointees) have scored a spectacular own goal,(unintended pun) in trying to supress Lineker's opinions, and turning them into world wide headlines,

OR!

Maybe they are secretly working against the government by choosing a course of action that will actually make the tories look like complete fools, while pretending to support them!

To compare actions to deal with this with the Nazis and use the BBC as his mouthpiece is unacceptable

It's pretty easy to compare what the Government are doing with some of the early actions of the Government in 1930s Germany

And how groups of people can be demonised and seen as other. The Conservatives use the language of division - and the culture wars are part of this.

"There are proper channels for entry if anyone wants to live here legally and work."

What are the channels for asylum refugees from Syria for example?

The thing is, immigration CAN be done well. Look how well Caribbean and Indian populations have settled here, and are much valued British members of society. They’re as British as anyone else

So well that this government tried to deport them a few years ago.

For years now we have been told what to say who to say it too when to say and mostly not too say far too much. Free speech has gone and soon we will all be automatons just repeating what we are told to say. Its gone too far. We need to be able to have our opinions and be able to voice them or whats the point!

I dont think so, match highlights are available on you tube, and my sons and their friends will be watching there, and not MOTD, which the said is pointless without the pundits. I expect many others will agree

I applaud GL, and all the others on MOTD who are standing with him.

MN is often frequented by the middle or upper classes. Those who are not really feeling the effects of asylum seekers living in their areas so it's going to be a biased view here I feel.
I'm waiting now for everyone to say that they live in a working class area and are best friends with the asylum family who live in the hotel opposite them.....
On a more serious note. There is nothing as someone said upthread, racist about worrying about this issue. It is unsustainable and unsafe and I doubt very much that the people on these boats (Yes, young men mainly) are ready and waiting to start their teaching job on UK ground as soon as they can. Let's be real here.

Of course he doesn't live in the real world, have you seen his salary,? and if he's housed a couple of refugees, I would assume his property is so big that he would have nothing to do with them.

I suspect it's to do with preserving our 'culture'. But really, it's a term used to try to disguise rampant racism when all it does is draw attention to the fact the user of said term is racist.

This thread is shameful. So many narrow minded bigots, quite happy to accept the benefits of the accident of their birth nation, but unwilling to share with those born to awful, punishing regimes. I’m ashamed to say I’m English reading some of this entitled shite.

I beg to disagree on the point of when the holocaust started. I think you will find it dates back to 1933 when the Nazis came to power and the intention was to kill all the Jews in Europe.

Don’t forget the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938. Do you think they didn’t do anything to the Jewish population. Do you think they all survived or were able to get trains out of the country’s and safe passage to another mainland European country.

The Final Solution, the gas chambers might not have been until the 40s but they were killing Jews and sending them to death camps prior to the gas chambers which were all about speeding up the process that had already been started.

@Nimbostratus100 We have a very fair and generous immigration policy compared to other countries like the US and Australia.

The rub here is illegal immigration and people trafficking by criminal gangs..

I'm shocked you don't know the difference.

What we have become is a country where criminal gangs make money by shipping people here who are not from war-torn countries but who want to be in the UK, illegally. This is because they know our benefits system is far more generous that other countries they could settle in.

Arguing about whether Lineker’s comments are justified misses the entire point.

It doesn’t matter whether you agree with him. The point is that he’s been very vocal over the years on many different subjects which were political. Including since the new BBC head honcho arrived.

No consequences. No threats to remove him from air.

His status as a freelance sports presenter seemed to allow him to use his personal Twitter account to share his views.

Except now that he’s criticised the government on a highly contentious issue - and the government want him silenced and off air. And so off he goes.

This is the government choosing what he’s allowed to say. There’s no consistency. This so called rule about freelancers being impartial has only been applied when the government complained.

The BBC has demonstrated that it’s not impartial - they have been happy for Lineker to comment before. No one even suggested that he be reprimanded for his comments about Qatar, or gay rights.

So let’s be clear - it’s not that he isn’t allowed to comment, it’s just that he’s only allowed to comment things that the government approves of…..

Huge, huge problem here. And it’s not Lineker.

You don't understand do you?

This is not about legal immigration or a safe place for anyone from a war torn country.

The boats are full of economic migrants, trafficked by criminal gangs.

Illegally coming here.

Exactly this. It doesn't actually matter whether one agrees with him or not.

LET ME GUESS.

You don't live in a working class area where illegal immigrants are being housed?

i meant to include previous poster 🤦‍♀️ but yes, you are spot on!

Five Live this morning had 20% of small boat immigrants as single male economic immigrants from Albania. We need to stop this dangerous people trafficking. Not to
mention the amount of Albanian criminals we seem to be importing. No issues with people genuinely fleeing terror although I am concerned about young men from different cultures with specific attitudes towards women.

Your post is profoundly offensive to Jewish communities.

But anyone can comment about the policy on national media. That's not being banned. Anyone can comment on the streets, on social media, in newspapers, to friends, acquaintances, etc. BBC broadcasters can hold whatever political opinion they like, they can chat to their friends etc. But they can't go on the media and comment about it. If they want to do that, they shouldn't sign an agreement that they won't. And if they have signed and want to keep commenting, they should resign and go work for another broadcaster who isn't bothered.

If anyone has used racist language about immigrants, they are liable to prosecution.

The rub here is illegal immigration and people trafficking by criminal gangs

It is NOT (yet) Illegal to enter the UK to claim asylum - and if this government wanted to deal with trafficking they would make it way easier to claim asylum from outside the UK

to be clear - given some of the posts on this thread - their is NO legal requirement for people to claim asylum in the first 'safe' country they enter either

You clearly have zero perception of what is actually going on across the channel. What on earth have you been reading?

Well the Conservative party, is a party full of racists.

@SunsetsInVenice asylum seekers have no recourse to public funds and don't get benefits