The Tory Party and their media buddies are getting themselves in a right old pickle over Gary Lineker aren’t they? They want him sacked by the BBC for effectively calling their immigration policies being in line with 1930’s Germany. A bit of basic reading validates his opinion but let’s remove that from the equation, at least for now.

Employment

The last time I checked, Gary Lineker was a freelance journalist. He is not a PAYE employee. Whatever the situation, are the Tory Party saying that employees and freelancers are not allowed to have an opinion? If that’s the case, does it mean I can only use social media for recruiting in the electrical industry?

Of course it doesn’t. The same applies to anyone else, including Gary Lineker. If the BBC chooses to terminate Lineker’s contract because of his own opinion, they are entering dangerous territory. In fact they will be confirming that they are in hock to the Tory government and, are themselves behaving in an authoritarian manner. Shutting down opinion is a form of fascism but unless you are a bit dim, I don’t need to tell you that.

The Media

Certain sections of the media are queuing up to get Lineker sacked. Their populist journalists, with some irony, are the same people who bleat on about cancel culture. They are saying, in black & white, that they should be as incendiary as they want, but anyone who challenges their ideology, should be sacked. Mad isn’t it?

Lineker’s position looks more precarious when you take into account the BBC chairman is the right-wing chum of Boris Johnson. You may remember that he was recommended for the role by Johnson, just a couple of weeks after facilitating an £800k loan for him. A completely impartial appointment, of course. It looks very much like the BBC has allowed itself to be hijacked by populists. It’s all a bit depressing as it was once internationally recognised for political impartiality.

Lucky Lineker?

In a way, Lineker is lucky. He is a wealthy man and is in a position where he won’t lose his house if the BBC refuse to use his services. If he wants to keep working, other media outlets will give him a few shifts but at 62, he is probably looking at retirement soon, anyway.

That is a problem for the BBC. Lineker’s financial status allows him the luxury of not having to shut up if he wants to put food on the table. Because he is a freelancer, he probably doesn’t have workers rights, so it will probably be reasonably easy to get rid of him. Don’t quote me on his contract though, it is just a semi-educated guess based on my knowledge of IR35 regs.

However, if they do terminate their relationship with him, it will be because he has a Twitter page and an opinion. That goes a long way to prove they are pandering to right-wing authoritarians in the media and in government. Remember, his words were on a personal Twitter feed, not Match of the Day. Not only that, many historians think his words were bang on the money.

I guess the truth hurts?