To carry on applauding Gary Lineker....2 - hoping to see BBC bosses heads roll.

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Because he was speaking the truth and he is entitled to, without being censored.

I am delighted to see the number of other sports commentators supporting him.

Now lets see Davie resign

Lord Sugar is only the tip of the iceberg. You’ve had the likes of Andrew Neil being transparently partisan for decades.

And, again, does anyone honestly, for one moment, believe that Lineker would have been sanctioned if he expressed support for Braverman?

Anyone?

BBC Director General Tim Davie, who was previously a Conservative Party candidate and Deputy Chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative party, says that forcing Gary Lineker to step aside is about "delivering on impartiality"

twitter.com/adambienkov/status/1634317428346830849?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

No, of course not. He's entitled to his opinion and to be able to express it. I'm delighted others have shown solidarity with him.

BBC interviewer: "If Gary Lineker had said to Suella Braverman, 'I support your migrant policy. I back it. It is brilliant.' Would you have removed him from air for that?"

BBC Director General Tim Davie: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals..."

twitter.com/adambienkov/status/1634673853858234370?s=46&t=Uw4lJNwxFZFnX0Xs3doHYg

Whilst I see the problem with Braverman's phrasing I think Lineker is a two faced tax dodger happy to moan - and his comments were justified - about Qatar but not stand by his words when he trousered over one and a half million pounds for reporting on the world cup held there. He's a stirrer and a nasty little champagne socialist.

I think this is great. It’s the first time ever I’m interested in MOTD. My teenagers were separately asking today if we (parents)had heard about it, leading to robust discussions about politics, asylum seekers and free speech…that probably never would have happened if not for Gary Lineker!

I personally think Lineker is the ideal person to take this stand: he is in some ways bigger than the BBC in that he is a respected ex-England player and captain, he doesn’t need the job and he could do the job on any other channel. In truth, the BBC claiming that he has some extra responsibility of impartiality because he is so strongly identified with the BBC is rubbish. He is strongly identified with his sporting career (and crisps!) and he happens to work at the BBC. It’s ludicrous that someone like him, as a sports presenter, should be expected to be bound by a gag order so as not to upset the Govt. I hope his fellow presenters, commentators and all the clubs and players continue to support this action.

Hopefully this Tim Davie person is forced to resign and soon!

Exactly. It was the BBC that insisted certain of their employees operate through intermediary companies. Other presenters have won their cases with HMRC.

Not that Gary's net worth or tax negotiations have anything to do with the issue in question. Neither does the validity of his statement, which was his subjective opinion.

The question is: should the BBC have censored him for his opinion on a newsworthy story? No. They completely overreacted. That's my view. I appreciate other views are available.

It's pointless saying "let's hope" that others who break the guidelines will be sanctioned. The fact is, they weren't.

I disagree with @TheLostNights :

"But how can anyone take him seriously when he is so far removed from the reality. He has taken in refugees sure. But you can bet your bottom dollar that they would have been carefully screened and selected. Hardly the same thing as selecting a random young man off one of the boats.
That is what is getting peoples backs up. Being preached to by a multi millionaire who lives very differently to the vast majority of us."

This is what is getting peoples backs up?

Is it? That he lives a privileged life? Being preached to?

I don't feel like that.

I wasn't impressed that World Cup went to Qatar. Think UEFA are corrupt, the timing of the competition was wrong, the hotels weren't even built, they used slave Labour to do work. People were up in arms saying I won't watch. I never felt that way. Not watching, once the decision had already been made helped no one. So as a football lover I watched and enjoyed. GL The was paid very well to go and commentate. That's his job. But he also objected. I liked that he did.

What his views are, if he's s nice person, if he's political. To me this is all totally irrelevant. This is about free speech. He's perfectly entitled to say what he wants. If people don't like it, fine. If he gets dropped by sponsors that's GL 's choice to tame his views or not. For money. But free speech, his, yours, mine. Should matter to us all.

I must say I agree with the BBC but still looking forward to their downfall

One rule for their mates, another for people with opinions they dispute.

Don't like GL at all. Nothing worse than champagne socialists who spout forth but are not effected by whatever they're banging on about . The only people who have a right to talk about immigration are the communities who will live with them . They will be the ones dealing with all the issues they bring good or bad. For or against only their voices should be heard .
I also wonder if all those in support would pay higher taxes to pay for them , There is too much Islington socialism defying common sense these days permeating everything . We're on a road to nowhere .

Even if we all agreed with the Director General's actions, and he was not and never had been a member of any political party, he should still go. It is a management failure to have no plan B for one of your high profile programmes and one which apparently is a double figure percentage of your sports budget.

If you rely on people who have other incomes and are freelance for much of the programme, anyone with any management skills knows that they could all decide to be unavailable for whatever reason.

This

Yep!

You can dislike a person and still agree with their stance on something, even Piers Morgan has sided with him.

Also people saying 'well MOTD was shite', again, not the point!

All of that can still coexist with the fact that a freelance sport's presenter should be able to express his opinions on his own social media page if other BBC presenters have also been afforded the same freedom (which they have).

Not at all, given there are credible rumours that BT sport want him to be the face of their football rebranded channel from next season and I imagine Viaplay would want him for international. BBC has lost a lot of football it’s only the flagship nature of MoD that has kept the people it’s kept. It now is in danger of losing them all and there are enough channels to get them all jobs.

it was a massive error by the bbc the programme last night was laughable

He wasn't saying if you're or us you're Hitler. He was discussing the way language is used to desensitise people to the humanity of the people on boats and comparing it to the language used against Jewish people in the 1930s. He's correct it isn't dissimilar though I would argue it wasn't just limited to Germany in the 1930s. Many newspapers in the U.K. were guilty of this too.

What I find most ironic is this months BBC history magazine, in the review of Martin Davidson's new book, expressed an incredibly similar opinion to GL.

I don't want the BBC destroyed, I want this government destroyed, for one thing for what they have done to the BBC.

Hopefully they will all go off there and take the football with them

This. I find it odd when people criticise footballers for voicing their political opinions as though they know nothing about the real world. a) politics should be for everyone. It's a dangerous move to suggest only the highly educated should have a political opinion.
b) most footballers have come from working class beginning so are likely to understand 'real world' issues far better than someone born into extreme wealth and subsequently lived their entire life only mixing with other very wealthy people.

I love it when pop stars, footballers, soap actors talk politics - we should all care about how the country is governed.

screened for what?

screened by who?

I don't think you have any understanding or experience of what you are talking about

This.

exactly.

I am a teacher, and a desperately want the BBC to survive- BBC bitesize is the most important and valuable resource available to me.

But I don't want it to survive in the form of a tory controlled mouthpiece