Gary Lineker big brass balls?

Sorry has this been done?

To say I’m not a fan of football is an understatement but I have suddenly gained a lot of respect for Gary Lineker

I’m loving the fact he’s got sooo far under the torries skin!

Fair play to him, bravernazi is clearly nice and upset.

Golden Balls!
Yup, he certainly has, with further to go , I hope…
Wheeling his Wheelbarra…

He is in a place of great privilege so I am not sure if brass balls come in to play but I am very glad that he is taking this stand.

It is the brass neck of the government that continues to surprise me. I know it shouldn’t.

From Cruella

I think it’s unhelpful to compare our measures, which are lawful, proportionate and indeed compassionate, to 1930s Germany

He is in a place of great privilege so I am not sure if brass balls come in to play but I am very glad that he is taking this stand.

That’s the only reason he can do it though… he still has a lucrative contract to lose, it’s just he can afford to lose it.

No problem with what he’s saying and why he’s saying it but the BBC supposedly have rules about impartiality.

And he’s presenting a wendyball highlights show and there’s loads of ex players who could do the job just as well so I’m not sure why he’s so protected. Perhaps he has some Polaroids stashed away in a safe. 🙂

I think even Sky would have booted him out by now.

My understanding is that he is self employed and works at the BBC as a football programme host providing opinion and comment for the BBC about football.

His twitter comments are not connected with the area he contributes to for the BBC so he is effectively speaking for himself and clearly not on behalf of the BBC. I did read that the words he used in connection with the situation in the 30’s were actually factually accurate.

The BBC is supposed to be impartial but does that rob employees of the ability to have an opinion about subjects outside of their contracted subject?

So basically, fill your boots Gary and I’m pleased its got Sue Braverman riled, miserable unfeeling creature that she is.

Yeah, he doesn’t actually work for the BBC, he’s a contractor.

He’s great on Twitter, always standing up for what is right.

Huge respect for him.

Just so sad the BBC can’t call out the Tories for what they’re really doing.

It’s easy to say whatever you want, not that I’ve got issue with what I’ve read about this incident, when you’ve recieved millions (as a professional football player and then as a MOTD presenter in his case)… Especially when you are approaching or beyond retirement/pension age.

Big respect for GL – he’s been a voice of reason on many subjects in recent years and he’s not afraid to get stuck in politically. The Tories get defensive because they know he’s well loved and has a very big audience of the kind of people they like to think they can influence fairly easily.

Going after his job is likely to be very counter productive but I’m amazed by the number of “the general public”* the BBC wheeled out yesterday who were suggesting he might have gone too far and/or should keep out of politics.

* Believe that this was probably the default BBC non bias syndrome which gave Farage and all the other nutjobs got a platform on QT.

the BBC supposedly have rules about impartiality

They do but they only apply to staff working in current affairs.

However, Andrew Neil, while hosting a major news programme on the BBC, constantly tweeted his right wing views and was editor of The Spectator at the same time. Nothing was said at the time.

They could try to sack him but he isn’t in breach of contract, so it would only end up one way.

The fact that the Daily Mail has had Gary L as the main headline for the last 3 days, shows he’s doing something right.

Anyway, thanks to GL, migrants are no longer the Tory’s #1 enemy!

Stop Gary Lineker by Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

the BBC supposedly have rules about impartiality.

The current BBC chairman has donated nearly half a million quid to the Tories. Any pretence of impartiality went out the window a long time ago.

Not a football fan but always admired Gary. Comes across as a decent bloke. Used to have his Spurs Pro-Set card when I was a kid. 😀

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

That’s the tweet that got him in hot water, in reply to his earlier tweet saying that the Govt plan towards refugees was awful.
Any genuine problems with that? Seems like an apt allusion given the circumstances to me.

The fact that the Daily Mail has had Gary L as the main headline for the last 3 days, shows he’s doing something right.

Generating them revenue?

I like to think I would do the same if I were in his shoes.

I’m sure he doesn’t need to work at all.

I’m sure he would get another pretty well-paid gig if the BBC did fire him.

Legally they’d probably have to pay him off (its not clear he’s broken their policy).

So to me, the pressure he faces is not a financial one to tow the “company line” its the hate and abuse that will inevitably come his way from people who have not even read the post (because its content is pretty hard to refute, the offence comes from the inferred comparison of the cabinet to the Nazi leadership).

I assume Cruella has not heard of the Streisand effect!

Did anyone else see Ash Regan accidentally (I assume) step in the bear trap on C4 news last night?  I don’t know if she has issued a correction/apology but I would be astonished if she actually meant to back the government in that battle!

For those saying “yeah, easy for him to say, he’s got millions”, it’s a lot bloody easier to say nothing and just sit back spaffing his loot and not giving two shits about anyone else, like most of them do. Massive respect for Mr L

I look forward to cruella blaming him alongside the wokerati, the blob, civil servants, lefty lawyers, labour, and probably unions, when her plans ultimately fail.

He’s been great at this for ages. And he’s taken refugees in at home, and not just photogenic Ukranians.

I’ve never heard about one of his tweets and thought “That’s Gary Lineker, the voice of BBC opinion”. They have always clearly been his own opinions expressed in his own Twitter feed. I can see why they have impartiality rules, I don’t think he’s the person they were intended for.

I think it would reflect badly on the government and the BBC if they took action against him for his beliefs. I regularly breach Civil Service impartiality guidelines on social media, but it’s clear they are my opinions not my employers

Interesting that the government have been so quick to make him the focus rather than their policy. Cruella tried to be clever yesterday and suggest he was comparing their policy to the Holocaust, which he clearly wasn’t. He was likening it to the rhetoric that preceded the policies that led to the Holocaust.

Any pretence of impartiality went out the window a long time ago.

What America does, we follow.
The media are nothing more than political mouthpieces of their chosen side.

I **** hate twitter, gives far too many people a sense of importance they have no right owning.

Agree with what Lineker has said and agree he shouldn’t be backing down.

I’m not sure how the BBC impartiality thing works – we are seeing a huge amount of Government talk on this, and very little from the other side, so I’m thinking the BBC is more partial than impartial.

No problem with what he’s saying and why he’s saying it but the BBC supposedly have rules about impartiality.

And he’s presenting a wendyball highlights show and there’s loads of ex players who could do the job just as well so I’m not sure why he’s so protected.

Absolute rubbish.

The BBC do have impartiality rules, but as mentioned above, it’s for current affairs staff. He is sport and so what he Tweets is clearly nothing to do with what he is paid for.

“Wendyball”. Come on, you’re better than that, surely?

There are loads of ex-players who’d give their right leg to be as good as Gary at presenting, he’s pretty much been the BBC’s lead sports presenter for 15 years, he’s a skilled and accomplished broadcaster, not just some ex-pro.

I think what he’s doing is awesome, huge respect for him

I assume Cruella has not heard of the Streisand effect

No doubt her media team have, and are loving this. Being tough on immigration is what her party’s voters want. It’s a win-win for them. It draws all the attention away from the details, and into the ideological issue of making highly complex problems a simple right or wrong, black or white, yes or no. It’s lowest common denominator politics.

Politicians accusing Lineker of being out of touch with the public – ironometer through the roof.

The BBC are still very much a state sponsored propaganda machine. From what I’ve seen over the years their impartiality rules really mean don’t criticise whoever is in power (twas the same when labour were in government).

Great point from John Barnes, BBC double standards in all their glory:

But Mr Lineker was defended by his former England teammate John Barnes, who accused the BBC of “double standards”, claiming Mr Lineker was “encouraged” by the broadcaster to be outspoken on human rights abuses relating to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Fair play to a rich white bloke writing some harsh words (no more than 240 characters) on the internet.

#stunningandbrave

Would you prefer no-one with a certain skin colour and/or level of wealth and/or genitals expressed opinions on anything?

It’s lowest common denominator politics.

Isn’t that simply modern politics? Very few seem to have the ability for crtical thought.

Would you prefer no-one with a certain skin colour and/or level of wealth and/or genitals expressed opinions on anything?

I **** hate twitter. People get sucked into thinking it’s activism, but it’s just words that simply generate lazy news stories that end up being a distraction from the issue.

Now if he’d brought it up on air, or in an interview that’d be great. Even go on Question Time and hammer whichever Tory is on or Labours relative silence on the matter? Even better.

But tweets? Then it’s just that #stunningandbrave

One of the worst things to happen to political ecosystems is twitter. Far too much debate is conducted there w rather than the wider public eye.

But it gives people an inflated and false sense of importance hence the addiction to it.

Would you prefer no-one with a certain skin colour and/or level of wealth and/or genitals expressed opinions on anything?

Didn’t Gary Lineker suffer repeated abuse during his childhood due to the colour of his skin?

The fact that the Daily Mail has had Gary L as the main headline for the last 3 days, shows he’s doing something right.

This is the problem, he has given the Tories a gift.

Why do the Tories focus on immigration? Its not actually that big an issue. They do it to distract from everything else they are screwing up (NHS waiting lists, strikes, Standards Committee investigation etc).
Why do they introduce illegal, unworkable bills? Because they know immigration is a vote winner and then they can blame others when they can’t implement them (judges, lefty lawyers, wokerati, Linekar)
Why do they love Linekar for this? It plays straight into their hands and moves the headlines away from their own incompetence.

Didn’t Gary Lineker suffer repeated abuse during his childhood due to the colour of his skin?

Aye, that he did. Kids are savage. Getting called P*** aint fun. Especially when your heritage is Indian. 🤣

“The current BBC chairman has donated nearly half a million quid to the Tories. ”

by contrast:

Greg Dyke donated £50K+ to Labour, was a paid up Labour party member and had already sought election in a Labour seat when he was appointed to run the BBC.

James Purcell was a Labour Minister for Media and subsequently joined the BBC on a c£325K contract.

Alan Sugar tweets right wing bile all the time. I presume they’re contractors and not direct employees which gives them the freedom to do so.

Also, Lineker is wonderful. ❤️

No problem with what he’s saying and why he’s saying it but the BBC supposedly have rules about impartiality.

they do – they are here – they are eminently sensible, which part do you think was broken?

Going after his job is likely to be very counter productive but I’m amazed by the number of “the general public”* the BBC wheeled out yesterday who were suggesting he might have gone too far and/or should keep out of politics.

* Believe that this was probably the default BBC non bias syndrome which gave Farage and all the other nutjobs got a platform on QT.

I suspect 70% of them won’t actually have read the tweet and half those that do remember it differently from what he wrote – he never used the word Nazi’s for example!  As usually popular opinion in this country is driven not by what people say but by what other people tell them to think about it.

Keep it up Lineker.

The BBC are much reduced in my estimation these days. Which is a shame.

Plus, what John Barnes said.

Why do they love Linekar for this? It plays straight into their hands and moves the headlines away from their own incompetence.

Criticism from Gary Lineker doesn’t play into Tory hands, if it has any effect it’s that it will more likely damage them.

There is no that doubt that this “stop the boats” campaign is designed to take the narrative away from the government’s incompetence. It has nothing to do with any genuine problems affecting the lives of ordinary Brits.

It is the responsibility of opposition politicians to tackle the government as they attempt to distract attention away from their own failures.

Every time the “stop the boats” issue comes up in the news/media opposition politicians should focus their response on challenging how this will help solve real issues affecting people – energy prices, NHS waiting times, transport costs, etc.

The more opposition politicians do this the more it exposes the fact that the government are cynically exploiting the issue to deflect away from their own failings.

Criticism from Gary Lineker doesn’t play into Tory hands, if it has any effect it’s that it will more likely damage them.

I respectfully disagree. The headline and chat this week has been about Lineker, not the illegality and incompetence of their proposed Bill. Its supports the Tories narrative that they are trying to fix the problem and are being stopped by lefty liberals.

I’m agreeing with ernie! 😱

There is no that doubt that this “stop the boats” campaign is designed to take the narrative away from the government’s incompetence. It has nothing to do with any genuine problems affecting the lives of ordinary Brits.

Absolutely, it’s not in the Tories interests to fix this, it’s their ever ready distraction

Every time the “stop the boats” issue comes up in the news/media opposition politicians should focus their response on challenging how this will help solve real issues affecting people – energy prices, NHS waiting times, transport costs, etc.

Rather than being sucked into being Tory-lite on the issue

A brief excursion onto twitter leads me to think there’s a lot of very right wing football fans (a lot of them don’t seem too fond of cyclists either). Maybe that’s why they are making a big deal of it?