Gary Lineker has shot down claims from the Daily Mail that he ‘saves a fortune by avoiding tax’, claiming the paper has a ‘vendetta’ against him.
The former England striker believes the Mail has attempted to bully him over his views on refugees and immigration, not long after The Sun embarked on a front-page campaign about him.
I have always paid my taxes on time and in full. The Daily Mail continues its vendetta against me because they don't agree with my views.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 9, 2017
I will continue to speak up for refugees and immigrants and British values of tolerance and free speech. I won't be bullied by them.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 9, 2017
Lineker was speaking in response to a Daily Mail report that he has been “avoiding tax in schemes”, though the mention of Lineker’s alleged tax affairs doesn’t get a mention until the paper has put together more than a dozen paragraphs about the 56-year-old’s political views.
He has used his platform of millions of social media followers to voice concerns about attitudes to immigration and refugees in Britain since the Brexit vote, as well as speaking out about American politics since Donald Trump was elected as the country’s 45th president.
And, in addition to refusing to be silenced on such topics, Lineker raised the fact that Wikipedia has recently deemed the Mail an ‘unreliable’ source for citation on its pages.
Lineker, who took part in the recent London march in protest at President Trump’s ‘Muslim Ban’, has continued – and by all accounts will continue – to make his voice heard regardless of press coverage.
