Gary Lineker

[Yel]

I don't think he should be sacked, that would be ridiculous. Although he's massively overpaid for presenting a clips show, anyone could do it and get the same figures.

But the BBC need to be clear what's allowed and what's not.

No need for this "we'll have a word with Gary", just say one way or another if this Godwin's law stuff is acceptable or not.

 

[Josephine Shaker]

Because he’s a football commentator, not a politician and most people don’t give a fig about his opinion. He should change careers if he thinks he knows best.

This is always such an interesting comment because you seem to suggest only politicians can comment on political matters and not you, me or anyone else. It’s not only the dumbest thing I hear about this, it also makes me despair that people genuinely have this level of trust in this government.
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If you sign a contract with the BBC for millions of pounds and are then in breach of that, you can expect to be told as such. You can’t sit on your big pile of cash and still expect to be able to say what you like.

Lineker swapped freedom of speech for lots of money when he signed on the dotted line. As he now clearly has a crisis of conscience, he should be happy to hand all that money back.

For context I think all politicians are self serving twats, especially the current lot. And I couldn’t give two shits about football.

Actually what you’re saying is incorrect. In their guidance they actually state that presenters like science or sport ones are allowed to comment on matters of politics. It’s (not) surprising how many people first of all misquoted the tweet and then seem to think the BBC clearly forbid a personal opinion. And oh well let’s not forget it’s okay for Alan Sugar and the likes to express one as long as it’s supportive of the Tories. What Gary said is bang on and even if you don’t agree with his statement that’s fine too. We are all allowed to say what we think (within the limits of the law of course). The fact a Tory run bbc wants to curb that is the massive own goal they deserve after the institution was taken over by one political party.
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What does a hugely unpopular government do when they are pretty sure they’ll be obliterated in the next election? They start scaremongering. Foreigners come to steal your jobs, and you houses. It’s to distract you from the shitshow they’ve run for 13 years. Speaking of that 13 years… they’ve been in power that amount of time and now all of a sudden they start with the rhetoric which is reminiscent of the 30s? Gee it’s almost like they know they’re fucked and are trying to save their skins. The reason this country is on its arse is not refugees. It’s mismanagement, Brexit and politicians who are not there for you and me: they’re there for themselves. The fact people don’t see that this latest move is a classic move when governments are about to fail is horrifying to me.

 

[SG1981]

Gary Lineker knew full well what he was doing, the 1930s Germany bit was added for extra spice knowing the furore it would cause.

Pay or be prepared to pay your proper taxes Gary then you can lecture the rest of us on morality.

 

[Zippy2000]

Never liked Gary He comes across as a bit of a big headed twat with an ego as big as the planet with a bit of a god complex going on .

SAying what He said was a bit over the top BUT He is an attention whore so not really surprised I am finding all the faux outrage from the other ' pundits' very funny tho

 

[Piff paff puff]

Turns out old jug ears tweet was too take the heat of his tax evasion court case which is ongoing.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

Now Ian Wright is refusing to appear in solidarity with Lineker!

 

[HaloGirl]

That speech he did before the opening game was just bull. He still presented the Qatar World Cup coverage and did 4 years of presenting for Al Jazeera earning £1.6 million prior to the World Cup. If he felt so strongly about migrant workers then he could have declined any of those gigs.
He can think what he wants but I don’t think the tax payer should pay for his salary. He also got his minions to send abuse to Nana Akua because she agreed with Priti Patel’s policy. We all have different opinions but clearly Gary doesn’t believe in opinions different to his.

 

[Yel]

Gary isn’t a BBC employee, he’s a freelancer

Well that's currently going through the courts with HMRC saying he should be classified as an employee for ir35.
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He had a good go at Qatar just before the opening game. So he didn't keep his mouth shut.

It was very odd with the way they started the coverage with his monologue. He still walked away with 1.6m from the qatari government for doing the work. I wouldn't say he had a good go at them by stating things like homosexually is illegal.

All rather strange. It would have said more refusing to do the work due to ethics.

 

[FoxyBingo]

Anyone sick of hearing about him? Never liked him anyway, he's always carried a certain smugness about him.

 

[queenamber]

And another one.

 

[Whatsitallabouteh]

Take a bow son. The BBC and the Tories should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Miss polar]

Some facts for you mcomics,

This country takes far fewer asylum seekers. It is the slowest and least efficient country in Europe at assessing claims!

Most asylum seekers have their claims upheld!

Most criminal gangs live on the uk, not abroad,
and the authorities know this, but have never tried to prosecute them.
This country would be completely fucked if it wasn’t for immigrants!

I’m not a football fan, but Gary linneker is spot on about this nasty government and it’s use of language.
Actually glad this has happened, as it’s shone a light on the toxic BBC!
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Oh, and because it seems to be repeated ad nauseum ,- there is absolutely no legal requirement to claim asylum in the first ‘safe’ country that you teach.

You can claim asylum anywhere!
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Oh, and because it seems to be repeated ad nauseum ,- there is absolutely no legal requirement to claim asylum in the first ‘safe’ country that you teach.

You can claim asylum anywhere!

 

[Yel]

It's certainly a good timing for him to demonstrate that he's not a BBC employee by not having to adhere to their standards and then not pay HMRC the £4.9 million they claim he owes.

 

[bubbadabut]

What I don't understand about these celebrity people is their determination to see things in black and white.

There is no doubt when you are referring to those people who have been displaced and are fleeing war torn countries, or countries with corrupt governments who control their populous by fear and violence, that we would gladly look after them, but in amongst those people are opportunists, petty criminals, hardened criminals, gang lords, economic migrants and extremists. To ignore this reality is endangering lives and turning communities into ghettos.
I have worked for a local authority. The housing crisis means homeless single mothers are living in hostels with drug addicts. They will not be treated as a priority when the country keeps inviting people here under false pretence. We do not have the means to look after them sufficiently.
There is no hope for those born here and living here who rely on public services, as they are stretched to breaking point. Not something you need to worry about when you have millions in the bank. If some of these celebrities took a more balance overall view, rather than dismissing and trivialising people's genuine (and justified) concerns, then we could find some common ground and make some progress. As it stands Gary Lineker and his ilk is not progressive - they are wilfully ignorant, and arrogant.

This. I also work for a local authority and have recently been moved from my usual post to working on the homeless team. I can say for a fact that 4 star hotels have been taken over (could provide a link to the Trip Advisor pages of all the local hotels, full of 1 star reviews of people who've had their wedding/event cancelled, but I dont want to reveal my location). What I will say is that we are one of the most affected places in the UK for the housing of asylum seekers. Walking past said hotels is now a no‐go for most of the women I know. On days when we are office based, we do not go out into the town centre unless absolutely necessary. We currently have such a problem that we are housing homeless UK families in hotels 3 or 4 counties away, and paying for taxis to ferry them back to their hometown and back every single day. We have certain villages in our town that even the police wont attend anymore. I would love to invite Gary to spend a few days in one of these places. He wouldn't even last the night. Never been able to stand the guy. Smug, overpaid, cheating, tax‐dodger.

All these celeb "I'm alright Jack's" will never, ever know the half of it.

 

[Blueballs]

I'm Jewish and 2nd generation settled in the UK (born Scotland but live in England). My grandparents fled nazi Germany. They are appalled by Gary. This immediately conclusion to jump to fascism all the time for shock value takes away something from it as there's nothing worse to jump to.
Some of the language with invasion and swarming is extream and totally unnecessary. But these words used how they were are so so far away from 1930s Germany.
The government does have a duty to it's citizens safety to know who is entering and the statistics show a reasonable percent threaten the safety and stability. Its nice to think it's all doctors coming over to work hard, but we need to be realistic. They do need more legal routes so that people other than Afghan, Ukrainian etc can enter. Wanting to know who is entering the country does not make you anti immigration.
But all this language calling the torys Nazis is disgusting and disrespectful for those that suffered under the Nazis. Not that I support the Tories but this extream language to describe them isn't helpful. Other countries like America, Australia and Japan are far harsher on people crossing without permission, if Gary was informed and sensible he would draw parallels between them. But that wouldn't get the same shock value as jumping to the most extreme example, despite it not being a good fit.

 

[PurvyPanda]

This. I also work for a local authority and have recently been moved from my usual post to working on the homeless team. I can say for a fact that 4 star hotels have been taken over (could provide a link to the Trip Advisor pages of all the local hotels, full of 1 star reviews of people who've had their wedding/event cancelled, but I dont want to reveal my location). What a will say is that we are one of the most affected places in the UK for the housing of asylum seekers. Walking past said hotels is now a no‐go for most of the women I know. On days when we are office based, we do not go out into the town centre unless absolutely necessary. We currently have such a problem that we are housing homeless UK families in hotels 3 or 4 counties away, and paying for taxis to ferry them back to their hometown and back every single day. We have certain villages in our town that even the police wont attend anymore. I would love to invite Gary to spend a few days in one of these places. He wouldn't even last the night. Never been able to stand the guy. Smug, overpaid, cheating, tax‐dodger.

All these celeb "I'm alright Jack's" will never, ever know the half of it.

I have worked in the NHS and local authority. I know too much. It was depressing. I sat in and minuted meetings and literally despaired at what I was hearing. Our hospitality IS being abused. The majority of people don't have a clue what is going on, but would still like to school me on the issue. It really grinds my gears.

Last week someone on my IG shared a story about a friend of hers who was a victim of the worst crime to be inflicted on a woman. For the sake of not upsetting anyone, I will not go any further into the details, but it was a harrowing reminder that women really need to look after themselves, and not leave their drink unattended. The purpotrators are still at large but these are not the variety people that Gary Lineaker and co want to acknnowlge are filtering into the country. I understand he means well, but he is part of the problem and so is everyone else who wear rose tinted specs believeing all of these people have a legitimate need and would not a danger on our streets.

 

[IngressUK]

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.

He needs to pay his tax for a start. Rather than funnel his income through numerous companies to avoid and reduce his tax bill.

Another one who likes to preach to the world whilst not paying the rightful tax he owes.

For some tax avoidance is seemingly acceptable if you are left wing and say things that are agreed with. If right wing, tax avoiding and say things that aren't liked, then those individuals are hounded to oblivion.

Tax evasion is wrong by whoever. That includes Gary.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

I’m working class and don’t feel impacted by mass immigration. I’m far more worried about the dire state of the NHS, the cost of living and the fact our public services are crumbling around us and I think that’s true of most people. This has been a very convenient ‘dead cat’ story for the government.

 

[EnjoyingTheShow]

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He had a good go at Qatar just before the opening game. So he didn't keep his mouth shut.

I appreciate you posting that, thank you. He did have a (written and signed off by a BBC copywriter from the legal department) speech prepared, you're quite right.

He’s a tawdry and disingenuous, not to mention unbearable, bastard. Don’t think for one minute he isn’t being used and abused by the Beeb to follow whatever protocol and agenda they’re using him as a scapegoat for...anyone hiding tax money is the first clue they’re an absolute fucker.

And HIS TAX MONEY is what would have paid for these (economic) migrants to be fed clothed and water 3 times a day in a luxury hotel while veteran Brits starve in the streets. So you can clearly see it’s do what I say not do what I do, the hypocrite. YOU plebs pay for these migrants thank you very much, HE’LL leave his millions in his offshore account.

So he allegedly takes migrants into his home did he? Virtue signalling at it’s most pathetic,Did he take in any homeless when it was Homeless Week? No, because that’s not trendy.

 

[Sriracha_on_everything]

All these saying keep politics out of football would have no issue if he repeated the right wing rhetoric.
At least he put his money where his mouth is and welcomed a refugee into his home.
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I dont think the uk is xenophobic, but it must be a bug bear for migrants from all 4 corners who come here legally on visas l and pay for the privellage tenfold to see illegals sneaking in.for every illegal immagrant that sneaks in, that's an hour longer waiting for a taxpayers service, like an nhs doctor or an nhs hospital. What's wrong with a government putting the hardworking people in this country first for once? Why is it racist to think that? and I don't see celebs most of whom live in the least diverse areas of the uk, they all live in exclusive white only areas but shouting about race and diversity, they are a joke honestly. Some of the nicest people I know are Indian and Filipino.. Well mannered who have come here legally, so why we doing them an injustice?,

Asylum seekers aren't illegal. Illegal immigrants are smuggled in or outstay visas. They can't claim benefits or receive NHS treatment because they live under the radar.