Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Labour down 2% and now this afternoon we find Rishi has successfully agreed a deal to fund a migrant detention centre in France to reduce Channel crossings https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-64914564
I think the news that Sunak is giving more of our money to the French may not go down as well as you expect.
The snippets I hear from the "real world" are that the French are the arch-villains of the piece, and deliberately letting the boats across to get the migrants off their hands. Unless one takes the view that RefUK is essentially a Tory front organisation, intended to lull the Labout Party into a false sense of security and withdraw their candidates at the last minute, paying the French half a billion pounds to do what they should have been doing all along (according to the narrative) is not going to go down with the people who have been persuaded that the French are the villains.
I am reminded of the well-known entry in Ye Political Wagering Chronicle 991 AD:
"... Mercia down two groats in the merk, and this year we learn that King Æthelred the Unready has successfully agreed a bargain with the Danes to fund a Northman detention centre to reduce sea crossings ..."
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
THIS episode on Hue (about 40km from where I am now) is just superb TV. One of the greatest presenters ever. Able to tell entire histories through food. And he loved Indochina and he loved Vietnam as any wise traveler does, and likewise he loved Vietnamese noodle soups
Why the F did he top himself? All that wisdom. Sad
You're very like him, you think, isn't it?
He’s a trillion times more famous than me, but there are uncanny and undeniable echoes
"uncanny and undeniable echoes" ... yes I bet.
Rather like with me and Sean Bean.
You’re a retired accountant, Sean Bean is a famous actor
I’m a person paid to travel the world luxuriously and tell the world about it, aaaand… that’s what Bourdain did (more famously, coz he was on TV and I’m in print)
He was also an ex smack addict with a criminal record. Ditto ditto ditto
He wrote a bestselling book. Er, ditto
And so on. Like I say, he was and is billions of times more famous than me, but there ARE similarities. You and Sean Bean, not so much. To be fair
On the contrary, the similarities between me and Bean (Sean not Mr) are just as strong and probably stronger.
Same age, both from the coalfields of South Yorkshire, both now in the monied no-man's-land of North London, he via acting school, me via an unusual mastery of double entry bookkeeping.
It's the same journey and we've done it - in a sense - together.
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
He isn't paid by the BBC to spout what you call Woke gibberish. He does that in his own time. Important distinction.
So, on a day when the government has two relatively good news stories to tell- the economy and the sensible deal with France- it's going to get drowned out by shouting over Lineker and Attenborough.
If the Beeboids are trying to help the government, they're not very good at it.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Except that only seems to apply if you express opinions the government doesn't like. BBC presenter Alan Sugar is free to urge people to vote Tory, as he did in 2019, and to criticise Mick Lynch and the RMT, as he did earlier this year.
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
The reference to 1930's Germany was entirely appropriate Big_G.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He's just been told he isn't presenting MOTD. Not sure for how long though
So, on a day when the government has two relatively good news stories to tell- the economy and the sensible deal with France- it's going to get drowned out by shouting over Lineker and Attenborough.
If the Beeboids are trying to help the government, they're not very good at it.
Difficult to believe how blatant the Tory partisans here are sometimes. But still.
If he breached BBC social media guidelines given to their presenters that is his fault. However it doesn't mean he has been sacked, just suspended until agreement is reached on his social media use
Labour down 2% and now this afternoon we find Rishi has successfully agreed a deal to fund a migrant detention centre in France to reduce Channel crossings https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-64914564
I think the news that Sunak is giving more of our money to the French may not go down as well as you expect.
The snippets I hear from the "real world" are that the French are the arch-villains of the piece, and deliberately letting the boats across to get the migrants off their hands. Unless one takes the view that RefUK is essentially a Tory front organisation, intended to lull the Labout Party into a false sense of security and withdraw their candidates at the last minute, paying the French half a billion pounds to do what they should have been doing all along (according to the narrative) is not going to go down with the people who have been persuaded that the French are the villains.
It's not about villainy. It's about the fact that the local French people want the refugees/immigrants/asylum seekers gone. So why should the French state (local and central) put in effort to stop these people leaving?
Which is why you get police standing on the beach, watching them load boats.
Put it like this - if it was the other way round, what do you think the locals in Dover would be asking for - "Stop them getting on the boats" ?
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
THIS episode on Hue (about 40km from where I am now) is just superb TV. One of the greatest presenters ever. Able to tell entire histories through food. And he loved Indochina and he loved Vietnam as any wise traveler does, and likewise he loved Vietnamese noodle soups
Why the F did he top himself? All that wisdom. Sad
Loved Glasgow too, so top man obviously. In the sadly departed Rogano’s in which my newly married folks dined on their way to their honeymoon. The honeymoon was in Belfast, the marriage was doomed from the start.
I discovered something today re Glasgow and food that really got me hooping and hollering. The Doner Kebab Pie! Is that a product from the gods or what.
New one on me but I like the sound of it. If it'll go in a pie or between 2 halves of a roll, we'll do it. In fact..
Pie night down here. Out to 27 in Kingsbridge tonight. Soup, pie and a pud, £20 - for Jamie's soon-to-be-Michelin-starred quality food.
Hopefully better than his Glasgow restaurant food then.
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
He didn't mention Nazis, although after today, perhaps he should. A private critique of Braverman leads to likely dismissal from the BBC, but finding Johnson an £800,00 loan gets one installed as Chairman. What nonsense!
SSI - of course, this could NEVER happen in the UK! Or could it?
It sounds like they were just trying it on. People often have to "erase their identity" to get the best sale price for a house by dressing it to fit their target market.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Braverman in favour of cancel culture now. What a mess.
Once it starts, everyone has something they want cancelled.
Except for me. I want free speech. If the next Hitler wants to give a speech in public, awesome. Then I'll know exactly where he is. With a wind gauge and the right equipment.....
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this.
Frankly, if the BBC wants to survive, it should make some programmes worth watching, and not assume it can survive by charging people to watch other companies' programmes. Just think how the value of the licence fee dwindles with the percentage of people who watch broadcast TV live.
THIS episode on Hue (about 40km from where I am now) is just superb TV. One of the greatest presenters ever. Able to tell entire histories through food. And he loved Indochina and he loved Vietnam as any wise traveler does, and likewise he loved Vietnamese noodle soups
Why the F did he top himself? All that wisdom. Sad
You're very like him, you think, isn't it?
He’s a trillion times more famous than me, but there are uncanny and undeniable echoes
"uncanny and undeniable echoes" ... yes I bet.
Rather like with me and Sean Bean.
You’re a retired accountant, Sean Bean is a famous actor
I’m a person paid to travel the world luxuriously and tell the world about it, aaaand… that’s what Bourdain did (more famously, coz he was on TV and I’m in print)
He was also an ex smack addict with a criminal record. Ditto ditto ditto
He wrote a bestselling book. Er, ditto
And so on. Like I say, he was and is billions of times more famous than me, but there ARE similarities. You and Sean Bean, not so much. To be fair
On the contrary, the similarities between me and Bean (Sean not Mr) are just as strong and probably stronger.
Same age, both from the coalfields of South Yorkshire, both now in the monied no-man's-land of North London, he via acting school, me via an unusual mastery of double entry bookkeeping.
It's the same journey and we've done it - in a sense - together.
Bet you've never played Mellors opposite Joely Richardson in Lady Chatterley's Lover, though.
Via this Oakeshott affair we now know that Whately argued against visitor bans in care homes during the pandemic.
Hancock was told that the care home Covid rules were ‘inhumane’. Whately advised him not to stop husbands seeing wives in October 2020, but Hancock denied the request and residents remained isolated for months. The elderly were at risk of just giving up due to being isolated for so long.
I owe her an apology. I was scathing on here about her – I had written to her at the end of May 2020 (which I also used for a header on PB – see below – Mike removed the reference to Whately but it was her).
I never received a reply from her but it now seems she took note of the remonstrations and warnings but could do nothing.
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
The reference to 1930's Germany was entirely appropriate Big_G.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Has Alan Sugar left the BBC yet?
Hello Mick Lynch are you happy with yourself bringing the country and ordinary people down on their knees over Xmas. You don't fool me waiting for the employers to come to table. You love the publicity.Your members would like to earn what you get.Why don't you waive your salary.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
One criticises our democratically elected government. The other… doesn’t.
Vladimir Putin would certainly agree 100% with that criterion. It's only when people criticise him that people in Russia are beaten up by the police and imprisoned. There is complete free speech in Russia to add insult to injury to their Ukrainian victims.
Braverman in favour of cancel culture now. What a mess.
Once it starts, everyone has something they want cancelled.
Except for me. I want free speech. If the next Hitler wants to give a speech in public, awesome. Then I'll know exactly where he is. With a wind gauge and the right equipment.....
The decline of the BNP started with Griffin's QT appearance.
The thing with Lineker is, he should understand that pissing off half of his audience is a silly move. That's one reason the BBC has social media guidelines. Taking "he is stepping back" at face value, perhaps he's realised that.
If, however, the phrase is cover for the BBC changing its mind to back him yesterday, that's unforgiveable on their part.
I think if the BBC has rolled over and told him not to express his opinions, and he's told them to stuff it, so much the better.
Maybe it will remind people about the scandal of Richard Sharp's appointment, and the fact that he is still there.
That was blatant cronyism. How dare Wellington promote someone from the ranks just for saving his life?
Quite. The Sergeant didn't even go to a grammar school, never mind Eton or Winchester.
There's no evidence that the Sergeant had completed any of his diversity courses, either. Despite use of numerous slurs (claimed to be in good fun) against Irish fellow soldiers.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Has Alan Sugar left the BBC yet?
Hello Mick Lynch are you happy with yourself bringing the country and ordinary people down on their knees over Xmas. You don't fool me waiting for the employers to come to table. You love the publicity.Your members would like to earn what you get.Why don't you waive your salary.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Braverman in favour of cancel culture now. What a mess.
Once it starts, everyone has something they want cancelled.
Except for me. I want free speech. If the next Hitler wants to give a speech in public, awesome. Then I'll know exactly where he is. With a wind gauge and the right equipment.....
The decline of the BNP started with Griffin's QT appearance.
The thing with Lineker is, he should understand that pissing off half of his audience is a silly move. That's one reason the BBC has social media guidelines. Taking "he is stepping back" at face value, perhaps he's realised that.
If, however, the phrase is cover for the BBC changing its mind to back him yesterday, that's unforgiveable on their part.
I think anyone listening to the personal opinions of talking heads is listening to an empty sounding vessel.
It's an equal waste of time caring about their opinions.
I think if the BBC has rolled over and told him not to express his opinions, and he's told them to stuff it, so much the better.
Maybe it will remind people about the scandal of Richard Sharp's appointment, and the fact that he is still there.
That was blatant cronyism. How dare Wellington promote someone from the ranks just for saving his life?
Quite. The Sergeant didn't even go to a grammar school, never mind Eton or Winchester.
There's no evidence that the Sergeant had completed any of his diversity courses, either. Despite use of numerous slurs (claimed to be in good fun) against Irish fellow soldiers.
Not to mention the course on how to eat peas properly, and how to handle a banana at the mess table. (Did the Amry ever do that? At Eaton Hall? The Navy certainly had an Officer-Like Qualities enhancement course of a couple of weeks at Greenwich even in wartime.)
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
One criticises our democratically elected government. The other… doesn’t.
Sugar was taking a political side before the election when he made a pro Johnson anti Corbyn post . No doubt if Lineker had come out supporting Labour it would have been seized on by the right wing papers ! It’s total hypocrisy.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
You're reading the room wrong on this. Lots of retired Tories love Lineker on MoTD. He's particularly popular with women. They see him as a footballing icon, a charmer, and if they were pushed to ascribe political views to him, a centrist dad type, not a leftie firebrand. They neither know nor care what he says on Twitter, despite the right-wing press's best efforts to make them.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
The reference to 1930's Germany was entirely appropriate Big_G.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
Sugar is arguably more impressive than Lineker. The Amstrad was genuinely quite revolutionary
Lineker was a really good striker who… didn’t win anything for England. Ever
Either way we can probably find some agreement that: if the bulk of your income derives from the BBC then you shut the fuck up about politics on social media. Whether you are left or right, that must be the deal. The BBC cannot continue long, otherwise, as it won’t have national consent
Nor is this impossible. Jeremy Paxman had a massively long, successful bbc career. I still don’t know his politics
What kind of place is Marin County, politically? Well-informed Americans will know the answer, but this might be news in the UK: It's full of wealthy leftists.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
Sugar is arguably more impressive than Lineker. The Amstrad was genuinely quite revolutionary
OK so Sugar made a decent guitar that was quite popular at the time. Does that enable him to pretend to be some kind of business guru for the rest of his life?
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
What a pathetic, shoddy, thin skinned, weak excuse for a government this is. So terrified of any criticism that they cancel anyone who dares to speak up. Utterly pathetic.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
You're reading the room wrong on this. Lots of retired Tories love Lineker on MoTD. He's particularly popular with women. They see him as a footballing icon, a charmer, and if they were pushed to ascribe political views to him, a centrist dad type, not a leftie firebrand. They neither know nor care what he says on Twitter, despite the right-wing press's best efforts to make them.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
Sugar is arguably more impressive than Lineker. The Amstrad was genuinely quite revolutionary
OK so Sugar made a decent guitar that was quite popular at the time. Does that enable him to pretend to be some kind of business guru for the rest of his life?
Guitar? You may wish to recalculate using your Amstrad calculator!
I see Fiona Bruce was defending some Tory wifebeater on QT last night. Yet she won't be sacked.
QT is a right wing ghetto now. The bias is almost laughable.
Ludicrous, almost the entire audience last night was anti the Government's asylum boats policy despite every poll showing most voters support it. Even if it was from North London.
Ken Clarke, Richard Madeley, Yasmin Alibhai Brown on the panel, none of them hard right
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Except that only seems to apply if you express opinions the government doesn't like. BBC presenter Alan Sugar is free to urge people to vote Tory, as he did in 2019, and to criticise Mick Lynch and the RMT, as he did earlier this year.
Gary's 'left liberal centrism' is also fine if aimed Left rather than Right. "Bin Corbyn" was one of his tweet themes. No probs.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Care to explain Andrew Neil's long and high profile BBC career then?
That is fairly simple - Andrew Neil is equally tough with his guests, whether they are Conservatives or Labour. He may have his own views but, in his role, he is neutral. If you didn't know his politics, you wouldn't be able to guess it from his interviews.
Compare and contrast with the likes of Emily Matilis who lets her contempt for anything that is not aligned with her views shine through. You can guess her politics a mile off.
What kind of place is Marin County, politically? Well-informed Americans will know the answer, but this might be news in the UK: It's full of wealthy leftists.
Which is why the couple accused here of "trying it on" where shocked at the low-ball appraisal, that discounted the actual value of the property by 1/3.
Currently in fashion on social media is a rather unkind term, 'Karens', referring to heavy-set, middle-aged white women who always want to speak to the manager.
We could similarly define the 'Gary', referring to affluent, middle-aged white men (with the confidence to match), who compare everyone they don't agree with to Hitler.
The government appears to be banking that enough voters are annoyed by 'Garys' to side with them. I've no idea if they are right but the spat between Lineker and the government has much the same feeling about it as a staged rivalry between American professional wrestlers - both may benefit and it feels quite synthetic.
What kind of place is Marin County, politically? Well-informed Americans will know the answer, but this might be news in the UK: It's full of wealthy leftists.
What kind of place is Marin County, politically? Well-informed Americans will know the answer, but this might be news in the UK: It's full of wealthy leftists.
Which is why the couple accused here of "trying it on" where shocked at the low-ball appraisal, that discounted the actual value of the property by 1/3.
They could have simply got a second appraisal instead of setting up a pretext for a lawsuit.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about with Lineker, the BBC and free speech. Seems fairly simple to me.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Care to explain Andrew Neil's long and high profile BBC career then?
That is fairly simple - Andrew Neil is equally tough with his guests, whether they are Conservatives or Labour. He may have his own views but, in his role, he is neutral. If you didn't know his politics, you wouldn't be able to guess it from his interviews.
Compare and contrast with the likes of Emily Matilis who lets her contempt for anything that is not aligned with her views shine through. You can guess her politics a mile off.
But he was clearly expressing political opinions in his role outside of the BBC. So no different to Lineker.
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
Sugar is arguably more impressive than Lineker. The Amstrad was genuinely quite revolutionary
Lineker was a really good striker who… didn’t win anything for England. Ever
Either way we can probably find some agreement that: if the bulk of your income derives from the BBC then you shut the fuck up about politics on social media. Whether you are left or right, that must be the deal. The BBC cannot continue long, otherwise, as it won’t have national consent
Nor is this impossible. Jeremy Paxman had a massively long, successful bbc career. I still don’t know his politics
Exactly, the BBC is like the Royal Family, it is supposed to be above petty party politics and represent the nation as a whole. Not least as it is funded by the license fee not advertising or subscription
Yeah but there's good free speech and there's bad free speech.
For someone who as a child was tearful when Morecambe and Wise left for Thames, I now detest the Johnsonian BBC. I hope he tells them to **** right off and becomes Labour MP for Leicester East.
I haven't commented on this so far but his reference to Germany in the 1930's was inflammatory to many so much so that Emily Thornberry said it was inappropriate
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
The reference to 1930's Germany was entirely appropriate Big_G.
Andrew Neil is a more interesting case. Damn good interviewer, willing to ask difficult questions of his own side. But nobody could pretend he was a neutral.
He was at the core of the Beeb's poltical coverage for a couple of decades, and that was considered OK.
It's true that he's not there now, he left in Autumn 2020. But that's not that long ago... what's changed since then?
Meanwhile, NEW: Sky News understands the BBC statement on Gary Lineker is incorrect.
That Lineker has not agreed to 'step back', and has instead been taken off air as he is unwilling to apologise for his comments this week on social media.
Currently in fashion on social media is a rather unkind term, 'Karens', referring to heavy-set, middle-aged white women who always want to speak to the manager.
We could similarly define the 'Gary', referring to affluent, middle-aged white men (with the confidence to match), who compare everyone they don't agree with to Hitler.
The government appears to be banking that enough voters are annoyed by 'Garys' to side with them. I've no idea if they are right but the spat between Lineker and the government has much the same feeling about it as a staged rivalry between American professional wrestlers - both may benefit.
If you consider "in fashion" to be what was spreading as a viral meme in 2018. 2020 was dubbed "year of the Karen".
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
You're reading the room wrong on this. Lots of retired Tories love Lineker on MoTD. He's particularly popular with women. They see him as a footballing icon, a charmer, and if they were pushed to ascribe political views to him, a centrist dad type, not a leftie firebrand. They neither know nor care what he says on Twitter, despite the right-wing press's best efforts to make them.
What a shovel-load of unevidenced shite
Thanks - that's something you are terribly familiar with.
Linekar steps down from motd. Where's my tiny violin when I need it?
Tories descend to Nazi-style censorship.
Yes, it sort of proves his point.
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
When Alan Sugar takes to Twitter to slag off Mick Lynch, that’s fine.
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
One criticises our democratically elected government. The other… doesn’t.
Good grief! Is criticising the democratically elected government verboten now?
What sort of a country have we become? What happened to free-speech?
Perhaps explain's Leon's fondness for Ron DeSantis? Libertarian turned Oligarch, modeling his politik on Viktor Orban.
The BBC is a state broadcaster. You don’t have that in America (perhaps wisely, who knows). I believe the BBC as we know it is doomed. Sadly. But if it is to survive it needs to be rigorously impartial in party politics. All employees (freelancers or otherwise) who provably gain the majority of their income from the BBC should be told, on pain of sacking, no political opinions on social media
And this should apply to left and right. To Sugar and Lineker. Just STFU as long as you work for the beeb
Maybe he's realised that although he has the right to do so, alienating half his audience isn't a sensible idea.
It’s not so much the alienation, it’s that the BBC relies on a licence fee, which is particularly paid by older Tory voters
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
Gary will be fine. I wouldn't worry about him.
He’ll be fine, just like Jeremy Clarkson is fine. But if the BBC wants to survive (I doubt it can, but it should try) it has to do this. The spectacle of this mega-millionaire tax avoider exulting in his ludicrous lefty views on social media is nauseating - he only has that influence because of the BBC
See, also, BBC presenter Alan Sugar. Though, to be fair, Gary Lineker was a world class footballer who was internationally famous because he scored countless goals for Leicester, Barcelona, Everton, Spurs and England. Sugar not so much.
Sugar is arguably more impressive than Lineker. The Amstrad was genuinely quite revolutionary
OK so Sugar made a decent guitar that was quite popular at the time. Does that enable him to pretend to be some kind of business guru for the rest of his life?
Guitar? You may wish to recalculate using your Amstrad calculator!
Comments
If 10,000 of them think Fuck it, why should I help to pay Gary Lineker £1.5m a year to spout Woke gibberish (which he does) AND avoid tax on it, that’s 10,000 x £180 a year = £1.8m lost, every year from now on. Lineker is not worth that. And if 50,000 older people think fuck the Licence Fee then the BBC is in real trouble
Market forces. The beeb relies on older Tories coughing up. What a shame for Gary
"BBC tackle LINEKER"
"BBC play Lineker OFF SIDE"
"BBC show Linekar RED CARD"
Or, perhaps more apt, but less consistent with the DM POV:
"BBC score OWN GOAL"
"... Mercia down two groats in the merk, and this year we learn that King Æthelred the Unready has successfully agreed a bargain with the Danes to fund a Northman detention centre to reduce sea crossings ..."
That might garner public sympathy
Same age, both from the coalfields of South Yorkshire, both now in the monied no-man's-land of North London, he via acting school, me via an unusual mastery of double entry bookkeeping.
It's the same journey and we've done it - in a sense - together.
It was unwise and I doubt Gary Neville would have tried to make the connection
If the Beeboids are trying to help the government, they're not very good at it.
If you work for the public funded BBC then you have to be politically impartial and can't say whatever you like on Twitter.
If you don't work for the BBC then you can say what you like.
So, if you want to say what you want on Twitter don't work for the BBC.
Maybe it will remind people about the scandal of Richard Sharp's appointment, and the fact that he is still there.
As for Gary Neville: https://twitter.com/GNev2/status/1633156488960045061?s=20
I don't care one way or another but the double standards of the right wing press defending the right of free speech for Farage and Yaxley-Lennon, and cheering the fall of Lineker is a joyous irony.
Which is why you get police standing on the beach, watching them load boats.
Put it like this - if it was the other way round, what do you think the locals in Dover would be asking for - "Stop them getting on the boats" ?
But when Gary Lineker tweets critically of government policy, that’s a breach of impartiality.
https://twitter.com/AyoCaesar/status/1634233104981213189?s=20
Except for me. I want free speech. If the next Hitler wants to give a speech in public, awesome. Then I'll know exactly where he is. With a wind gauge and the right equipment.....
Hancock was told that the care home Covid rules were ‘inhumane’. Whately advised him not to stop husbands seeing wives in October 2020, but Hancock denied the request and residents remained isolated for months. The elderly were at risk of just giving up due to being isolated for so long.
I owe her an apology. I was scathing on here about her – I had written to her at the end of May 2020 (which I also used for a header on PB – see below – Mike removed the reference to Whately but it was her).
I never received a reply from her but it now seems she took note of the remonstrations and warnings but could do nothing.
https://www7.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2020/06/02/a-pber-lobbies-the-government-over-not-being-able-to-see-his-mother-who-is-in-a-care-home/
The BBC just have the rights to broadcast it
Hello Mick Lynch are you happy with yourself bringing the country and ordinary people down on their knees over Xmas. You don't fool me waiting for the employers to come to table. You love the publicity.Your members would like to earn what you get.Why don't you waive your salary.
https://twitter.com/Lord_Sugar/status/1603354972317683712?s=20
The thing with Lineker is, he should understand that pissing off half of his audience is a silly move. That's one reason the BBC has social media guidelines. Taking "he is stepping back" at face value, perhaps he's realised that.
If, however, the phrase is cover for the BBC changing its mind to back him yesterday, that's unforgiveable on their part.
What sort of a country have we become? What happened to free-speech?
It's an equal waste of time caring about their opinions.
Lineker was a really good striker who… didn’t win anything for England. Ever
Either way we can probably find some agreement that: if the bulk of your income derives from the BBC then you shut the fuck up about politics on social media. Whether you are left or right, that must be the deal. The BBC cannot continue long, otherwise, as it won’t have national consent
Nor is this impossible. Jeremy Paxman had a massively long, successful bbc career. I still don’t know his politics
Example: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/CA/Marin/107124/web.264614/#/summary
Who are more "progressive" than California, generally: https://www.ptreyeslight.com/news/marin-county-voted-more-progressive-california-results-show/
The surprising part of that story is that there is a house in Marin County that can be bought for a mere $1.5 million.
(Marin County: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County,_California )
Ken Clarke, Richard Madeley, Yasmin Alibhai Brown on the panel, none of them hard right
Compare and contrast with the likes of Emily Matilis who lets her contempt for anything that is not aligned with her views shine through. You can guess her politics a mile off.
We could similarly define the 'Gary', referring to affluent, middle-aged white men (with the confidence to match), who compare everyone they don't agree with to Hitler.
The government appears to be banking that enough voters are annoyed by 'Garys' to side with them. I've no idea if they are right but the spat between Lineker and the government has much the same feeling about it as a staged rivalry between American professional wrestlers - both may benefit and it feels quite synthetic.
San Francisco even voted for McGovern, Mondale and Dukakis when they lost nationally by a landslide
He was at the core of the Beeb's poltical coverage for a couple of decades, and that was considered OK.
It's true that he's not there now, he left in Autumn 2020. But that's not that long ago... what's changed since then?
Meanwhile,
NEW: Sky News understands the BBC statement on Gary Lineker is incorrect.
That Lineker has not agreed to 'step back', and has instead been taken off air as he is unwilling to apologise for his comments this week on social media.
https://twitter.com/mattuthompson/status/1634238341683003421
This is going to run, and may not run to the BBC's or the government's advantage.
2020 was dubbed "year of the Karen".
And this should apply to left and right. To Sugar and Lineker. Just STFU as long as you work for the beeb