To think this isn’t actually the BBC’s fight?

[notonbodycomparisonsites]

Hear me out… I’m not very politically minded. This is my view as a lay person with unlimited access to the news and the internet…

But my personal opinion is that the BBC shouldn’t be held to task like this, not at this time.

They definitely need to assess their policies on who is allowed to say what and when. But the fact is that a public figure disagreed with the government, and the government didn’t want their actions criticised publicly, so they pulled out the ‘we own the BBC card’ and used BBC policy to attempt to shut the matter up. As far as I’m concerned that seems like a misuse of power, and as much as the BBC need to sort themselves out, I’d rather acknowledge that I’m uncomfortable we even got here to begin with!

For what it’s worth, I don’t actually agree with Gary Lineker’s opinion on the immigration matter and the 1930’s Germany blah blah blah… but I’m still glad I live in a society where I got to hear him say it .

So… AIBU for thinking that we should soon be hearing from the government with a little apology for causing such a major fucking mess?

(Please don’t ask me anything about politics)

Typical of the authoritarian, snowflake nature of the Tories.

"He criticised me. Cancel him."😭😭😭

Lineker's been critical of the Tories for ages but it was comparing them to the Nazis that got him suspended.

@Florenz but he didn't. He (correctly) pointed out similarities in use of language and expressed concerns. Concerns very many people have been expressing for much longer. If the BBC and the Toris hadn't made a stupid fuss, all of this would have been barely more than a ripple.

Which is why he didn't do that.

Have you read and understood the tweet? He is talking about language used in the 1930s.

The language used by the Government now is not dissimilar to that which was used in 1930s Germany. It started in the dehumanisation of vulnerable and minority groups by language back then. Lineker called no one a nazi

Still don't understand what is thought to have changed. It can't surely just be that his opinion is critical of His Majesty's esteemed government policy.

Say it isn't so.

Except he didn’t. 🙄

If you compare language used by the government to language used by the German government of the 1930s, you're comparing the government to the Nazis.

He didn't say 'the government are nazis'. Just look at the words and the language.

Contrast and compare. 1930 ("pouring into this country). 2023. (flooding Britain)

If you compare language used by the government to language used by the German government of the 1930s, you're comparing the government to the Nazis.

Right, so we should all just ignore the language our government is using to describe refugees. Got it. No criticism allowed.

What I don't understand is why the national conversation is about Gary Lineker and not about whether the asylum bill is legal or breaches human rights.

Tories must be loving it - turn the spotlight away for them onto Gary Lineker of all people.

So much for BBC impartiality.

Yes exactly.

As long as whoever asks if the bill is legal, or breaches human rights, doesn’t work for the BBC, then the government may allow us to hear an answer!

I heard someone one the radio refer to “hordes” of migrants “invading” Britain the other day.

@Florenz Lol I too tried to explain that. Apparently people who relate the two are dumb and gaslighting 🤣

I do think about how something like that could ever happen. But it did. And sometimes I see glimmers of the type of circumstances I think might allow it to happen. Sometimes in everyday life, sometimes online, sometimes in recent events such as brexit and COVID (not the genocide itself obviously), but more low level things like the level of division, forced teaming, the right think/wrong think, demonisation, the purveyors of moral ‘right’, the propaganda, the slandering, the joy of jumping on someone you don’t know to prove their wrong and your right. The loss of being able to have proper conversation and discussion. Lack of respect for others. Fear of not being in the right group. Lack of critical thinking. Despondency of just thinking I can’t be bothered to argue for this/ against these people, I’m not putting myself on the line for this. Willingness to stand by and not get involved because you probably won’t manage to change it. Fear of being socially outcast/ financially of physically harmed. The silent majority. The list goes on.

Am guilty of plenty of these myself. Everyone is if they bothered to introspect. I think in isolation it doesn’t matter but there’s a perfect storm scenario that obviously occurred and I do sometimes wonder are we minutes from doomsday striking 12. Is daily mail language great - no. But on the whole I am way more worried about the state of our society and social discourse. Because that is and always will be the last safeguard against something like that ever happening again.

And now am sure back to being called dumb/ idiot/ unintelligent
/ a gaslighter again by those so outraged by dehumanising othering language.

HMRC would beg to differ. They say that GL is exclusively employed by the BBC (unlike a true contractor who could work for Sky on his day off with no issue). They say that as a consequence he owes £5m in tax

They do it to win votes. If there was no demand for it they wouldn't have to do it.

Where do you get your info on GL’s tax

@Emotionalstorm well, it's a chicken and egg scenario, isn't it?

The public are led to believe that the U.K. is invaded by swarms of forrin rapists. The press has a great deal to do with this. As does the current government.

Hysterical inaccuracies led to hysterical beliefs and reactions.

The government can then divert attention away from all the other mismanaged issues and claim they are responding to what the people are concerned about.

No government has to be toxic and vile like this to win votes. It's an active choice. And it will lead to more awful results.

Maybe HMRC have decided that for tax purposes it doesn't mean he is an employee for employment law purposes.

Employment law status can be different from tax status. He's paid the tax for work carried out for BT Sport and the BBC. He is appealing the basis of their assessment.

You just described Linekar there, except that he’s motivated by money enough to go battle with HMRC over his tax status.

I wasn’t suggesting that you couldn’t be both motivated by money and left wing.

On QT last week, it was due to the BBC sanctioning what Gary said about the human rights abuses in Qatar.

So it's ok if the BBC use Gary to voice their impartial opinions but not ok if he does this independently.

The BBC aren't coming out of this very well at all.

This.

I don't know why it's so hard for people to grasp.

He didn't compare our government to the Nazis and the holocaust. Obviously. He compared SB's toxic speech and language to that used in 1930's Germany to 'other' a group of people.