JEREMY Hunt today said he “profoundly disagrees” with controversial comments made by Gary Lineker.
The Chancellor is the latest of a string of Tory MPs to blast the Match of the Day host for his “tasteless” tweet comparing the government’s new immigration policy to 1930s Nazi Germany.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt ‘profoundly disagrees’ with Gary Lineker’s comments
The Match of the Day host compared the government’s migration policy to Nazi Germany
Speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, Mr Hunt said “people’s confidence” should be restored in knowing the BBC has no “political agenda”.
He added: “We need to make sure that what comes out of this is that people’s confidence in the impartiality of the BBC is restored.”
But Mr Hunt rowed back from demanding an apology from pundit Mr Lineker, whom he said he “personally, profoundly disagrees” with.
The 56-year-old said: “I don’t agree with his comments and I personally think that he was wrong to say what he said, but I don’t think it’s for me to decide how that issue is resolved.
“If you believe in BBC independence, then it’s not for the chancellor or any other government minister to say how these issues are resolved.”
And when quizzed whether the corporation’s leadership is too close to the party of Government, Mr Hunt said it was not for him “to make those judgments”.
Mr Lineker sparked major backlash after taking to Twitter to hit out at the Illegal Migration Bill, which bans migrants that arrive on small boats from settling in Britain.
The legislation will see migrants swiftly detained and removed to either their country of origin or a safe third state within 28 days.
Following the inflammatory comments, he was told to step back from hosting MOTD in a row over impartiality until a “clear position” on his social media use is agreed.
It caused a football blackout, with several TV and radio programmes, including the Saturday edition of the highlights programme, Football Focus and Final Score, disrupted or forced off air following a boycott by presenters and pundits like Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Alex Scott in support of Mr Lineker.
The broadcaster said it would air only “limited sport programming” over the weekend and was “working hard to resolve the situation”.
Conservative politicians have lined up to slam Mr Lineker, who is on a taxpayer-funded salary of £1,350,000.
MP Simon Clarke told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “I disagree very profoundly with what Gary Lineker said.
“I think the comparisons to 1930s as he’s made are deeply inappropriate and actually very tasteless.”
Asked why it matters what a sports presenter says, he replied: “Mr Lineker has a huge reach and the reality is that he is obviously operating on a publicly-funded broadcaster, he is someone whose platform largely derives from his role at the BBC, he’s saying things which are partisan and I think which are also deeply unfair.”
He called the situation a “mess” and said the BBC needs to resolve “ambiguity” in its guidelines.
‘APPALLING COMPARISON’
Mr Clarke continued: “I don’t like cancel culture of any kind, I don’t like to see people being taken off air.”
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer also waded into the row, saying: “The BBC has a 10-point plan in relation to impartiality.
“It is absolutely important that it maintains impartiality so that the public retains trust in it.”
In the Commons, DUP MP Gregory Campbell called for “multimillionaire lefty Lineker” to have his pay docked.
And Red Wall MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: “Whilst the elderly lost their free licence, the BBC have now given Gary Lineker a different sort of free license – one that allows him to say what he wants, when he wants and without fear of sanction.
“Everybody is entitled to their opinions, but as a public service broadcaster you would expect the BBC to hold him to the same standards they would expect from other members of their staff, who would not get away with such appalling comparisons.”
PM Rishi Sunak said he hopes the free speech row ends “in a timely manner” – but that it was a matter for the BBC, not Government.
He refused to back down on tackling the evil of people traffickers, adding: “We need to break this cycle of misery once and for all and the policy we set out this week I believe aims to do just that.”
BBC director-general Tim Davie has apologised personally for the disruption to the sport schedule but insisted he will not resign from his role.
On Saturday, Bargain Hunt aired in place of Football Focus on BBC One at noon, while The Repair Shop ran instead of Final Score at 4.30pm.
BBC presenter Colin Murray tweeted that 5 Live’s Fighting Talk was not airing “for obvious reasons” in a decision by the entire team.
Pre-recorded content replaced the live broadcasts, with Kammy & Ben’s Proper Football Podcast aired during Fighting Talk’s slot followed by The Footballer’s Football Podcast, which played on Radio 5 Live when 5 Live Sport would have aired.
The 606 phone-in show with Robbie Savage and Chris Sutton was also pulled, replaced by a Eurovision podcast.
MOTD was limited to around 20 minutes and did not include accompanying commentary or analysis due to the broadcaster not having the rights to the Premier League’s global commentary feed, according to reports.
The show, which received its largest audience since November with 2.5million viewers, also aired without its iconic theme tune.
Tonight’s MOTD2 hangs in the balance after host Mark Chapman backed Mr Lineker and pundit Jermain Defoe announced he would not appear, but it is expected to take a similar format.
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