Gary Lineker taken off air from BBC football show after his tweet on U.K.’s new migration law
The Hindu
The former footballer commented on the U.K.’s new migration policy, calling it an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”
Former England football captain Gary Lineker has been taken off air by the BBC after his comments on Britain's migration policy sparked a furious row between the government and the corporation's highest paid presenter.
Lineker was told there has to be an agreed position on his use of social media before he can return, the BBC said on Friday.
BBC Director General Tim Davie said it had taken "proportionate action".
The row overshadowed a migration deal struck between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, with the BBC accused of bowing to political pressure.
"Gary Lineker off air is an assault on free speech in the face of political pressure," the opposition Labour party said, calling for the BBC to re-think its decision.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the BBC's move "indefensible". The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "Individual cases are a matter for the BBC."
On Tuesday, Britain announced details of a new law which would see migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel prevented from claiming asylum and deported either back to their homeland or to so-called safe third countries.