The Conservative Party deputy chairman Lee Anderson has called on the BBC to gag Match Of The Day Presenter Gary Lineker after the former England striker compared the Tories to the Nazi’s.
Lineker responded to a video posted by home secretary, Suella Braverman, about stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats, tweeting: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
When challenged by one of his followers Lineker defended the comments, tweeting:
“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?”
The deputy chair of the Conservative party Lee Anderson wrote on Facebook: “This is just another example of how out of touch these overpaid stars are with the voting public.
“Instead of lecturing, Mr Lineker should stick to reading out the football scores and flogging crisps.”
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told Times Radio: “My children are the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and I think those sorts of words should not be thrown around lightly.
“Gary Lineker is paid for by the British taxpayer and it is disappointing that he is so far out of step with the British public.”
Tory MP for South Thanet Craig Mackinlay said Lineker’s comments were a ‘step too far’ and called for the BBC to fire him.
Fire him? For what? For voicing an opinion? Isn’t that his right? Isn’t it a fundamental human right?
The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Some of Lineker’s loudest critics are people who never shut about about free speech and cancel culture.
You can’t have your cake and eat it. You are either against firing or de-platforming people based on their views or you are not.
And please don’t start with that BBC impartiality nonsense. How any BBC boss could look Gary Lineker in the eye and remind him of his responsibility to remain impartial is beyond me.
The BBC, impartial? Pull the other one. Is the BBC impartial when it comes to reporting on climate change, Ukraine, Covid-19?
Of course not. Gary Lineker may be an insufferable, virtue-signalling bore, but he should never be sanctioned for expressing his views.
