'An issue which had “spiralled out of control”

MP for Ellesmere Port

THERE have been so many spin-off angles to the story of the temporary red card issued to Gary Lineker from his long-standing lead role on the BBC’s Match of the Day.

Before discussing them in greater detail, who could have imagined that a single tweet from a sports presenter – however well known that person may be – could have cause so much consternation that people in their many thousands felt inclined to express a view on it one way or the other?

In the first instance I am going to look at the Gary Lineker saga from a workplace point of view, bearing in mind my role as Shadow Minister for Employment Rights and Protections/Future of Work.

In a show of true solidarity in an employment dispute, Gary Lineker must have been so impressed by and grateful for the support he received from other Match of the Day fellow presenters and other staff members who made it clear that they were withdrawing their labour in support of their colleague. The result being that a truncated Match of the Day appeared on our television screens at the weekend with no commentary or punditry. Of course because most of the high profile people engaged in TV are independent contractors rather than employees it is much easier for them to do that than the majority of people. However, this indication of support for Gary placed pressure on the BBC hierarchy to engage in behind-the-scenes negotiations with Gary and his advisers, leading to a relatively quick resolution to what could easily have become a protracted dispute.

So Gary and fellow presenters Alan Shearer and Ian Wright will be back on our TV screens in due course, despite the best efforts of some Conservative MPs who clearly wanted the BBC to make an example of Gary including those who wanted him to be sacked.

This was not about whether one agrees with Gary Lineker’s views about the Illegal Migration Bill because whilst some people may have concluded that Gary Lineker’s personal view was perhaps ill-advised, the central questions was whether he was entitled to hold an opinion in a modern day democracy where free speech is a pre-requisite. And, in this instance, whether a sports commentator of nearly 30 years standing is free to comment on one of the most important news issues of the day. There are countless examples of current and former BBC TV presenters such as Michael Portillo, Andrew Neil, Alan Sugar and Jeremy Clarkson being far more involved in politics than the occasional tweet but they have not had the same problems as Gary Lineker. The suspicion is that because his comments were considered to be critical of the Government the BBC came under pressure from the Conservative Party to act. It should be remembered that both the Chair of the BBC and Director General are prominent Conservative supporters, with the former currently under investigation for those links.

I have no doubt that Gary was entitled to comment in the way that he did and I note that in returning to the BBC he has not issued an apology for exercising his right to hold such a view.

He has been gracious enough to thank BBC director general Tim Davie for spending a good part of the weekend in attempting to resolve an issue which had “spiralled out of control”.