Stand in solidarity with Gary Lineker

I stand in solidarity with Gary Lineker.

I have the utmost respect and admiration for him and all the BBC presenters, pundits and commentators who have come out in support of him and refused to work on any football programming today.

The decision to suspend, and possibly ultimately sack Gary Lineker, is utterly appalling and quite clearly a politically motivated decision. It is clear for everyone to see that the BBC has become a national disgrace following either its complete capitulation to the Conservative Party’s political pressure, ably supported by their allies in the right-wing media, or their active participation in the Conservative Party’s culture wars.

There has already been a huge backlash and torrent of criticism from the general public, sportsmen and sportswomen, journalists, politicians, etc., all of which is thoroughly deserved.

So …. what has Gary Lineker actually done wrong to deserve this sanction?

Gary Lineker initially shared via his personal Twitter account a video of the incompetent and truly obnoxious Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, announcing details of her new Illegal Migration Bill with the comment “Good heavens, this is beyond awful”.

He followed up with a further post on his personal Twitter account saying “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 Illegal Migration Bill proposes to detain someone, without trial, without access to a lawyer or the courts and then deport them, an almost certain breach of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

Quite apart from the impact on human beings, the Illegal Migration Bill will make the UK an international pariah state due to its complete disregard for these long-standing conventions which have been upheld by all decent democratic nations for many decades.

The Illegal Migration Bill is unethical and immoral and even if the Conservative Party has no objections to that, it is totally impractical and will fail since the Conservative Government has no return agreements with other nations (given that the very same Conservative Party politicians supported Brexit which ended the Dublin Convention) and there is totally insufficient detention capacity in the UK.

Gary Lineker referred to language used in Germany in the 1930s. This was prior to World War 2 which commenced in 1939 and the Nazi’s “Final Solution” which resulted in the genocide of the Jews in “The Holocaust” between 1941 and 1945. He did not refer to these later events despite the ridiculous complaints made by the Conservative Party and the right-wing media and their deliberate spurious interpretation of his comments. He was referencing the inflammatory, bigoted and dehumanising rhetoric and language adopted by Ministers of the Conservative Government, not least Braverman.

It is factually correct to say that the events in Nazi Germany did not start with concentration camps and the gas chambers. It started with one party controlling the media, one party controlling the message, one party deciding what is truth, one party censoring speech and silencing opposition, one party dividing citizens into “us” and “them”. Sound familiar? Above all, it started when good people turned a blind eye and let it happen.

Gary Lineker was spot on with his comments.

At the heart of this is the Conservative Government’s own failure on immigration and the asylum system. Rather than take responsibility for the mess that they have created, it is blaming everyone else, as usual, and now including Gary Lineker. What they should be doing is standing up, accepting responsibility and implementing practical solutions to fix the problems.

All this has served to be the perfect and eagerly awaited distraction for this Conservative Government who have consistently failed on their immigration and asylum policy with one soundbite and gimmick after another. Every minute that everyone is talking about Gary Lineker is a minute that we are overlooking this incompetent, corrupt and cruel Conservative Government.

They have failed to tackle the organised crime organisations behind smuggling people across the English Channel in small boats.

They have closed down all legal routes for asylum seekers other than special cases such as Ukraine, Hong Kong and Afghanistan.

They have overseen a huge backlog in unresolved asylum claims (incidentally the UK receives far less asylum claims than many other European nations and the majority of those arriving by small boats across the English Channel have their claims agreed).

They have overseen a Rwanda deportation policy for asylum seekers that has not seen a single flight at a huge ongoing cost to the taxpayer.

They have overseen increasing numbers of asylum seekers allocated accommodation in hotels again at a huge ongoing cost to the taxpayer.

If Gary Lineker had tweeted that he agreed with the Government’s immigration and asylum policy, do we honestly think he would have been suspended? Of course he wouldn’t have and he would be presenting Match of the Day tonight with his colleagues as he always does.

Gary Lineker is not a BBC journalist or a BBC political correspondent. Neither is he a BBC employee but instead a freelance contractor.

He did not express his views on any BBC TV or radio programme but instead he used his own personal Twitter account.

He can apparently comment on human rights in Qatar whilst presenting the BBC’s coverage of the 2022 World Cup but he can not comment on the state of his own country’s Government and its policies for himself. Anyone spot the anomaly?

Here is another anomaly.

Why has Gary Lineker been sanctioned when Andrew Neil, Alan Sugar, Michael Portillo, Jeremy Clarkson and many others who work or who have worked for the BBC are permitted to express their personal views. A clue …. consider their politics.

How have we reached the position where the supposedly independent BBC has failed so spectacularly?

That is an easy question to answer. Just look at the 2 most senior figures at the BBC.

Richard Sharp is the Chairman of the BBC. Sharp worked at JP Morgan for 8 years and then for 23 years at Goldman Sachs (who also employed the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak). He was a former director of the Centre for Policy Studies, a think tank created by Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s with historical links to the Conservative Party. He was an advisor to Boris Johnson during his tenure as London Mayor and to Rishi Sunak as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He has donated more than £400,000 to the Conservative Party and he arranged a £800,000 loan for the former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

Tim Davie is the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of the BBC. Davie stood as a Councillor for the Conservative Party in Hammersmith in 1993 and 1994 and was Deputy Chairman of the Hammersmith and Fulham Conservative Party in the 1990s.

Gary Lineker is speaking up for some of the most vulnerable people who are fleeing conflict zones, political and religious persecution, etc. and he has voiced his concerns regarding the unethical, immoral, illegal and impractical Illegal Migration Bill.

Apart from the right-wing head-bangers in the Conservative Party and the right-wing media, most people will agree with Gary Lineker. Contrary to what is claimed, immigration, including asylum seekers arriving by boat, are well down the list of most people’s priorities compared with the cost of living, health, education and other important issues.

Stand in solidarity with Gary Lineker!

General Election now!

Vote in a progressive and internationalist Government that cares about people, society, nature and the environment!

Oh …. and bring back Match of the Day and all the other BBC football programming on TV and radio that is off air today.

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