[Brekkie]

No, the real issue is the government have created a policy that invites that comparison (Gary is far from a loan voice in that) - and now in attempting to silence such criticism the more pressing issue is that the BBC has acted in such a manner that means those comparisons are accurate.

The BBC has lost it's independence - and that is devastating for all concerned.

[Alf Stewart]

It inevitably cannot be the correct decision if the standards are not applied across the board which they haven’t in recent years.

The issue isn’t that Gary has tweeted criticism of a government policy, which he and others have done in the past without repercussion. The issue is that he thought it acceptable to compare the policy of a mainstream political party (a policy which a not unsubstantial proportion of the country support) to the behaviour of the nazis.
Unless you can give examples of others who have compared the behaviour of a mainstream political party to the Nazis or other similar groups (Isis, North Korea) and not been reprimanded it is not factual to say the standards are not being applied equally.
It really isn’t unreasonable to have standards that allow people to disagree with things politely but don’t allow such criticism to turn into insults or hyperbole.

Could you perhaps provide a link to where he compares the government to Nazi's? (Or Isis or N.Koea come to that). I must have missed that one.

[XIII]

I think Gary didn't help himself by goading on Twitter about how he wouldn't stop tweeting.

[Keith]

The issue isn’t that Gary has tweeted criticism of a government policy, which he and others have done in the past without repercussion. The issue is that he thought it acceptable to compare the policy of a mainstream political party (a policy which a not unsubstantial proportion of the country support) to the behaviour of the nazis.
Unless you can give examples of others who have compared the behaviour of a mainstream political party to the Nazis or other similar groups (Isis, North Korea) and not been reprimanded it is not factual to say the standards are not being applied equally.
It really isn’t unreasonable to have standards that allow people to disagree with things politely but don’t allow such criticism to turn into insults or hyperbole.

Could you perhaps provide a link to where he compares the government to Nazi's? (Or Isis or N.Koea come to that). I must have missed that one.

It's perhaps worth noting which political party was ruling Germany in the 1930s. One could therefore argue there's an implied link in Lineker's tweet. However, I feel that may be staying too far away from TV presentation related discussion.

[Adsales]

It inevitably cannot be the correct decision if the standards are not applied across the board which they haven’t in recent years.

The issue isn’t that Gary has tweeted criticism of a government policy, which he and others have done in the past without repercussion. The issue is that he thought it acceptable to compare the policy of a mainstream political party (a policy which a not unsubstantial proportion of the country support) to the behaviour of the nazis.
Unless you can give examples of others who have compared the behaviour of a mainstream political party to the Nazis or other similar groups (Isis, North Korea) and not been reprimanded it is not factual to say the standards are not being applied equally.
It really isn’t unreasonable to have standards that allow people to disagree with things politely but don’t allow such criticism to turn into insults or hyperbole.

The BBC cites the fact that he was not impartial, not the content of his tweet.

He also, at no point, compared government policy to anything done by the Nazis. He said the language used is almost comparable and that I’m afraid is a true and has been subject to criticism by many other media figures.

[Lester]

The rule about impartiality on social media is completely right for people that work on BBC News but a guy that presents a football analysis show who's not even directly employed by them? Just seems bizarre to me. Massive misstep. I'm pro BBC but am puzzled about their actions here. This clearly comes from the top and THEIR political allegiances aren't exactly impartial.

[JMT1985]

Can someone explain to me how Gary Lineker is employed by the BBC? They keep saying he is freelance, but how does that work, for us who have no idea. How is this different to Graham Norton for example? Thank you.

[Amber Avenger]

I suspect when the history of the BBC is written in many years to come, today will be a very significant day indeed. It will be interesting to understand in the future why they have chosen to relight the embers of a fire that was starting to die out. Why today and not Wednesday?

As for MOTD, I can't see it not being on at all due to their contact with the league, but I suspect potentially a shortened show with highlights of the games only. I can't imagine there would be anyone left who would put themselves forward to host now.

[Brekkie]

This two minute piece from Sky Sports News sums it up perfectly:

twitter.com 

[Steve in Pudsey]

Irony detector activated

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