Going ‘below the line’ is always dicey. Particularly on a story with this headline.
Tomorrow's front page: Calls for BBC to fire Lineker as he peddles migrant lies pic.twitter.com/tos7mvtcBF
— The Sun (@TheSun) October 20, 2016
‘Lefty luvvie’ Gary Lineker is taking it in the neck from The Sun newspaper after he expressed an opinion on the arrival in the UK of child migrants from the notorious ‘Jungle’ camp in Calais, France.
The Sun had previously run a story quoting Conservative MPs calling for age tests on the refugees, claiming that one of those taken in by Britain “looked closer to 40”.
Lineker quoted a tweet from a charity claiming the refugee in question was a Home Office interpreter, claiming “The Sun lies again”.
The TACT Foster & Adopt tweet has since been removed, but Lineker is sticking to his guns. And so are the newspaper, whose front page on Friday was calling for the Match of the Day presenter to be sacked after allegedly “breaching Beeb guidelines on impartiality”.
Two Conservative party politicians are quoted in Friday’s front page, which includes confirmation from the UK Home Office that the individual in question was a refugee and not an interpreter.
“I hope he apologises,” said Tory MP David TC Davies. “I question if the BBC should be employing him when he seems to be using his fame to push out his rather emotive and controversial views.”
Another Conservative, Alec Shelbrooke said: “He needs to decide if he’s a political activist or BBC sports journalist — he can’t be both.”
The fact that a former footballer turned TV presenter can attract the ire of government politicians and the biggest selling paper for expressing views on a country of 64 million taking in a handful of refugees says a lot about the febrile atmosphere in the UK at the moment.
Slightly overwhelmed by the support on here today to be honest. Thank you.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 21, 2016
As Marina Hyde wrote in the Guardian, the whole issue of age testing should make everyone feel a little creepy anyway – especially tabloid newspapers.
If Lineker was feeling the love on Twitter, the mood was more mixed in the comments on the Sun’s front page story.
There were jokes about the former Leicester and Tottenham striker’s ears.
There was back and forth.
Britons starting turning on each other.
Predictable anti-immigrant opinions.
Conspiracy theories.
And a few voices of support.
There are not many men who appear on TV in their pants whose political views can elicit such a strong response. Kudos.
In the latest GAA Hour, we talk to Ken McGrath of Waterford and with Declan Brennan about a new club players’ association. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
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