The Mrs switched on Radio 4 then left the room. By the time she returned it was the news at 9 and the state broadcaster was reporting that Tories were angry about £1.35 million a year BBC presenter Gary Lineker saying that new immigration plans were “beyond awful”. The Mrs could not see what the Tories were complaining about and snorted. That is because the BBC News did not report in that bulletin the really offensive thing that Lineker said, comparing the Tory policies to those of the Nazis in 1930s.
Of course that is tosh. There is no Kristelnacht. There is no denying the rights of folks who have lived in Britain for centuries to work on the basis of race. It is offensive both to those who really did suffer under the Nazis as well as to Suella Braverman et al to make such an odious comparison.
Earlier, in the Today programme, Nick Robinson admitted that Lineker had compared the policies to those in 1930s Europe. No Nick, Linkeker was not talking about Greece, France or Italy. He was talking about the Nazis in Germany.
Today discussed whether the jug eared crisp salesman had breached BBC impartiality rules and concluded that as a sports presenter as opposed to a news presenter he had probably not crossed a hard line so will just get a talking to over his latest outburst which he will ignore as he has done before.
In media land Lineker is viewed as a national treasure worth every cent of his £1.35 million for chatting about soccer for a few hours a week. In the wider country, where nearly everyone does not earn and mingle with folks on six figure salaries, many folks detest Lineker for his non stop virtue signaling and obscene pay.
But this latest outburst is a lot more than virtue signaling. Though the BBC seems determined to bury the actual Nazi comparison it cannot and it is offensive. In most other organisations it would be grounds for sacking on the basis of bringing your employer into disrepute.
But this is the BBC and this is Lineker so however offensive he is nothing will happen.