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

[Nimbostratus100]

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

The level of ignorance on this thread and lack of understanding about what a refugee is is breathtaking.

A refugee is; 'a person who has fled war, violence, conflict or persecution'. NOT someone who has come from a peaceful, free country to seek prosperity and free shelter in another.

Failure to be clear about that difference is beyond damaging. It means we are doing a disservice to real refugees who need out help, whilst simultaneously allowing people to enter the country unchecked.

One of my in-laws is management at a hotel in central Manchester, some of these migrants have been housed there for over year, in which time it's been established they are from peaceful countries. It would take an awful lot of them 'contributing to society' to pay back that £55k+ hotel bill alone....

What I want to see if the rebellion spread beyond football pundits to other BBC staff and I hope people working for the BBC will start to speak out about what has been going on behind closed doors.

It has been very obvious for a while that the news were being heavily biased/censored to meet the government agenda with journalists like Laura Kuenssberg and Fiona Bruce cosying up to the Johnson administration.

The BBC should be able to freely feature and discuss key issues like climate change and Brexit which affect us all and show people with different opinions.

The BBC was set up as an independent public broadcaster, not as a government propaganda arm.

Whether you like Lineker or not is actually irrelevant.

This is way beyond that.

It is about freedom of speech and whether you think it is OK for government to control the media to that extent.

I cancelled my licence last year and stopped watching the BBC because I was concerned about its news coverage and the lack of impartiality. I am glad this is now becoming more obvious to many people...

How much money GL earns is irrelevant. Footballers earn silly amounts : Ronaldo, Mbappe, Messi. That's not the point.

He's allowed to hold an opinion. He's allowed free speech to voice that opinion. Even if you and I don't agree with his opinion. We all are. What do you think we are all going here? On the thread. Expressing an opinion.

B@hattie43 Ok I'll bite. I live in a red wall shit hole. The council was in the gateway scheme settling many refugees from all over the world. Both they and some of poorest native born citizens live in abysmal accommodation. The town voted to leave the EU and now has 2 out of 3 tory MPs. Still a shit hole. Started declining properly about 10 years ago. Do I blame the refugees - nope. Firmly blame tory Austerity and lies about levelling up.

A refugee is anyone who is given refugee status, not some made up interpretation by you

And the refugee would be able to work and contribute to UK taxation if they were processed much quicker rather than languishing in your families hotel business (are they unhappy at the money coming in?)

He hasn't belittled the Holocaust at all. This is what he tweeted:

There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?

Footballers earnings don't come out of TV licence payers money, GL's salary does, so how is it irrelevant.

He was most definitely not speaking the truth, I don’t even think he is claiming he spoke the actual truth, he was offering an opinion.

As an aside, my husband watches match of the day religiously and he just said he quite liked the format last night without the commentary or between match sections, he just saw the football.

@Bucketheadbucketbum

"He belittles women's football".

No. GL belittles woman's football? No. I don't think he does. He loves football, massively.

He has championed women’s football over the years

@Nimbostratus100

*Ordinary plebs like the rest of us a require by our contracts to not use social media to slander your employer.

So why is GL any different?*

Whoa, hang on. He didn't slander his employer. His employer is the BBC. Well, actually - no. Because he's freelance. But he invoices the BBC from time to time.

Oh, no! Wait! I see! You think the government is his employer. That could only be the caaw if the BBC is run by the government. Well, yes, we all suspect that might be the case. That's the problem then, isn't it?

Or is that you think that you - as license payer - are his employer? In which case, how did he slander you?

*caaw = case

If he wants to be a politician, be one. If he wants to be a sports presenter, then present sports.

@User1638690

How is how much he is paid by the BBC relevant? How much does the BBC pay to any other presenter or actor in any programme they commission. How much he earns is not the issue that is being discussed here. That's a totally different issue - your views on the BBC and how they spend their money and how much they pay for each program is a totally different issue.

We are talking about free speech here. A different concern.

Belittled the Holocaust?! Seriously? Do you even know when the Holocaust was?

We need to learn from history, ensure we don't repeat our mistakes. Recognising the rhetoric that led to major horrors and challenging it when we perceive it being repeated in our society is the only way we can do that.

I don't know if people haven't read the actual tweet and are getting there information from daily mail headlines or if there is just a serious lack of reading comprehension. Either way it's concerning.

@purpledalmation if he wants to be a human with an opinion be a human with an opinion

The sheer ignorance in this post astounding. By ignorance I don't mean arrogance but complete lack of knowledge and comprehension of issues and facts. I don't think there's any point trying to explain because you're clearly too far gone down your DailyMail reading path.

I think the BBC made a stupid move on this - i imagine they might be regretting it now. I’m meh about Lineker - considering he’s quite gobby on many issues and he is steeped in the sports world - I don’t recall him he ever commenting on or supporting the sports women who have bravely spoken out about males being allowed to compete in female sports. Maybe he prefers to stick to issues he knows are easy virtue signaling points

I have a job. I also have views about Arsenal. But you're quite right. I really shouldn't express them.

So tweeting about Kelly's bra when they'd just won the world Cup is professional support, encouraging people to take rhe womens game seriously?

So only politicians can express political views?

GL has gotten too big for his boots. As a BBC presenter he has to remain impartial- but chose to open his mouth. Therefore must take the consequences.

So only politicians are allowed opinions on politics? Are you a sports presenter? If not are you even allowed an opinion on Gary Lineker?

What an odd view

I agree with @toomuchlaundry

GL has championed and supported women's football for years. Supported the women when they won the World Cup. To say otherwise is suspect. I don't believe it's true. Show me the evidence.

Exactly!