Gary Lineker is stepping down from presenting Match of the Day until he can agree to use social media in terms suitable to the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Late this afternoon the BBC claimed that an agreement had been reached but off the record this has been denied by sources close to the presenter.
The former England striker has long between a target for the right-wing media and the Tory Party for not being on message over a variety of social issues.
With the UK Government announcing plans to breach long standing Human Rights Convention earlier this week Lineker tweeted his disapproval, liking the language being used to that of Germany in the thirties.
Led by the Daily Mail and Daily Express Lineker became to the story rather than the new hard-line Government policy on immigration.
After a couple of days of frantic attacks at 4.45pm on Friday the BBC announced that Lineker would be forced off their screens.
Time for @IanWright0 @alanshearer or whoever else does MOTD these days to not turn up. Be brave and stand up against this
— Frankie Hobbs (@Frankie_Hobbs) March 10, 2023
Gary Lineker is to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media use, the BBC has said.
It follows an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the government’s new asylum policy.
The BBC said it considered Lineker’s “recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines”.
It added he should “keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies”.
The BBC said it had been in “extensive discussions with Gary and team in recent days” and “has decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”.
In Scotland licence payers get to see presenters as dull as Steven Thompson, James McFadden, Neil McCann, Jane Lewis and Richard Foster.
On radio views range from Kenny Macintyre, Tom English to Alasdair Lamont with the stats freak Liam MacLeod the main commentator.
The BBC is fully funded by licence payers, it is a very simple operation to contact the BBC to inform them that you don’t watch or listen to live TV and radio.
As has been pointed out by others elsewhere, Lineker is a freelancer rather than a BBC employee therefore there might be a noticeable lack of outward solidarity with him over this. That said, as a wealthy man not lacking in influence, he may refuse to be gagged and decline to such agreement and not return. They may even still have to pay him in his absence – contracts can be a funny old game, Saint….
It’s not a criminal offence to be without a licence.
You’re correct as long as you don’t watch (or record) a whole host of channels (not just the BBC.
I suggest people (instead of blithely believing that they are untouchable if they dont pay for a TV licence) should Google the question “is it a criminal offence … etc” because they might be surprised at the statistics regarding prosecutions.
Funny how the same BBC allows far right moon howlers, like rent-a-mouth GBeebies “News” gobsh1te Tom Harwood, on what are supposed to be serious current affairs shows, like Question Time, where he is allowed to spread his outright lies and propaganda totally unchallenged. If they are so interested in balance and want to hear even extreme views, why not get a journalist from Socialist Worker on, so we get a far left voice? If you really want balance, the Official Minster Raving Loony Party is still a political party, so why not have them on? Probably make more sense than an @rsew1pe like Harwood. .
Example Kim de Jong tv and radio state TV or dictatorship Andy Pandy and muffin the mule must be turning in their graves.