Gary Lineker

[Solpaqueen]

If he does get sacked I don't think Sky will pay him what the BBC does.

 

[welp]

so we have pundits, many players and now even the commentators boycotting

Much as I support Lineker on this it's amusing that it took this to spark a pretty united anti cancel culture/pro free speech movement.

It's one of those cases where you (read: the BBC) letting the matter die down was the correct choice.

 

[Whatspopping]

Why is football and especially Lineker, put on such a pedestal in this country. The media making this out to be far bigger than it should be too. He's a football presenter. I don't think he ever spoke about political issues on social media until Gary Neville went all political, now you can't shut him up.

I think the mentioning of nazi Germany is the reason why BBC have been more adamant he apologises. The fact he's doubling down on what he said and refuses to apologise has made this a bigger issue. He's probably loving the attention. Must run in the family as his brother is a bit of attention seeker.

Because football is part of British identity for the majority, is a grassroots activity for kids and adults in the community, and is a world wide brand that makes a ton of money for the country.

British Pop Music is similar.

 

[Jen667]

I have a History PhD and the language is entirely comparable. And PS there is nothing 'illegal' about claiming asylum in a different country. That's what international law actually says. It is a mere quirk of history that you aren't in one of those boats, by the way.

Then you'll know there was nothing subtle or nuanced about the Nazi's language or actions.

 

[Josephine Shaker]

Who was he referring to if not the Nazis?

He didn’t mention Nazis but I see the logic is you’re not allowed to refer to that period of time period. If it walks like a duck….

 

[wearedoomed]

The use of limited companies to reduce personal tax liability is clearly taking the piss though. As long as the government allow it I'm not going to criticise people for doing it, because if it's that much of an issue they could very easily change the law.

A lot of self employed people would prefer to operate as a sole trader but many clients will only deal with 3rd parties when they’re limited companies. That wouldn’t help with the old argument of employee vs contractor though.

 

[SG1981]

The Apprentice is made by Fremantle not the BBC itself whereas BBC sport is all in house so Gary is likely less of a freelancer than Lord Sugar who's contract may be with Fremantle and not the BBC directly

 

[KS1066]

Why on earth would he be reading this? - Of course he wont be

 

[Multi-21]

i don't think he was disciplined because of his general tweets about refugees, rather that one specific one where he is referencing Nazi Germany.

Yea I think it’s that reference specifically which has got him to this point.

Jermaine Jenas has also said no now.

 

[Baby Giraffe]

There are going to be different views of course, but most Jews would disagree. They seem to be a small, start up jumping at the chance to get more engagement. And their tweets are inaccurate, the language today used is not reminiscent of Nazi Germany

Unless any of us have spoken to most Jews then I don’t think any of us can make that bold statement. The ones I know didn’t find it offensive but I’m obviously aware this is a small sample. It doesn’t help that he’s been misquoted so much and is being judged on something much more decisive.

 

[Mrs Fluff]

There's more of an issue re impartiality with regards to the BBC's chairman seeking an £800,000 loan from Boris Johnson, surely?

I guess Lineker's job is to pundit, he's not a current affairs presenter

 

[londonlife24]

Nothing anyone says will change my views of him. He’s supposed to be impartial, or at least keep his opinions to himself as a BBC employee. I used to like him many years ago when he was a footballer. He’s got very bitter in recent years. He says we are taking less migrants than other countries - I say look at the size and population of the UK compared to France, as an example. The infrastructure cannot cope, it’s as simple as that. What is the solution? I don’t know. You cannot blame these people for trying their luck at a better life, but unfortunate we have to leave it to the politicians (it’s their job), much as Gary thinks he knows best.

other people who are meant to stay impartial as they work for the BBC such as Alan Sugar , are not, and they post pro tory comments on Twitter. Nothing happened to Alan Sugar. If Gary Lineker was pro tory then , it’s probably unlikely he would have been suspended/asked to step down etc. why should it work one way and not the other?

 

[Yel]

Obviously no one would say it's right. But how is it helping anyone by reposting one abusive private message his son received? Or is it all to get a response from Elon?

Block, report (to police and twitter) and turn off private messages. Twitter does provide tools to limit who can slide into your DMs.

His son has been tweeting loads about it all, so the "nothing to do with me" doesn't really compute.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

The asylum seekers staying in my town are housed in an absolute shithole of a hotel - far from 4 star.

Same here. A very grotty hotel that you couldn’t pay most people stay in.

 

[Jen667]

The stark fact is that his tweet was entirely right - some of the language used 'we are being invaded', 'illegals' is absolutely the same language as 1930s Germany. If you're more concerned about what a football presenter says than the fact that this government is trying to do something in breach of international law to stop desperate people literally fleeing wars then sorry, you're the bad guy.

The jews the Nazis targeted were legal citizens . I highly doubt the language was the same.

 

[Spid]

Alan shearer and Alex Scott have both said they won’t appear either

It's gonna end up being Jenas presenting and any pundit they can rustle up like Ashley Williams. Jenas will be too scared to say no with him being made ready for a big BBC role as is.

 

[Tangerine Cat]

That can’t be right, Gary Lineker complaining about free speech? Oh, the irony…

 

[L3moning]

Like many people on mega high wages in media he's employed via a limited company to minimise tax.

To be fair that setup isn't limited (heh) to people on "mega high wages". It's very common in engineering.

 

[FunkyPhil]

Left leaning people think the BBC is horribly right wing. Right leaning people think they're horribly left wing.

I've never seen any 'obvious' right wing bias on QT. There are some weeks where the audience appear to be more right/left leaning than others, but that's down to the demographic of the region they're in. I think Fiona Bruce does a good job.

That's a very fair assessment, Jen667. It's easy to pick out one thing in isolation and accuse the BBC of leaning one way or the other, or to believe that when a journalist asks a politician a difficult question that it is indicative of their view, but I'm with you that I think BBC presenters and journalists on the whole do their best to be fair and balanced.

I saw the Queston Time piece about wife beating and Fiona Bruce was simply putting the story into perspective based on what is known about it. She would also have been criticised had she not done so.

 

[Yel]

Yet this was fine? I'm no Corbyn fan either but there can't be one rule for the left and another for the right.

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That wasn't under the current director general, who very recently said how important impartiality was.

Was 5 years ago, I think it would be judged differently these days.