Gary Lineker, as Wikipedia reminds us, is one of the few footballers who has never received a yellow card. At least in the field. In his later life as a TV presenter, he was actually introduced to many shows. BBC management again promised to contact the host of the popular sports program with the request Today's match (Today's Party), after Lineker managed to unleash the anger of Conservative MPs with his comment on Twitter about…
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Gary Lineker, as Wikipedia reminds us, is one of the few footballers who has never received a yellow card. At least in the field. In his later life as a TV presenter, he was actually introduced to many shows. BBC management again promised to contact the host of the popular sports program with the request Today's match (Today's Party), after Lineker managed to unleash the anger of Conservative MPs with his comment on Twitter about the new immigration bill presented by Rishi Sunak's government. “By God, this is more than terrible,” he limited himself to writing in a retweet of a video published by the Home Office, in which the owner, Suella Braverman, repeated the message that Downing Street stations are sending to sell the benefits of the legal provision called the Illegal Immigration Act (preferably the British executive Definition of “illegal migrants”, rather than “irregulars” as the UN recommends, those who reach the English coast by boat). “If you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay. You will be detained and deported to your country of origin, if it is safe, or to a safe third country like Rwanda,” Braverman promised. “Stop. We have to put an end to the boats.”
Having grown accustomed to picking fights on Twitter, Lineker expanded on his complaint after some users questioned the annoyance he expressed: “It is not true that the number of arrivals is huge. [en 2022, fueron interceptados 46.000 inmigrantes en el canal de la Mancha]. We receive far fewer refugees than most European countries. this [el nuevo proyecto de ley] It is simply an incredibly cruel political measure directed against the most vulnerable people, in language not very different from that used in Germany in the 1930s. Was I the one who got out of line?”, the former player defended himself.
A wave of Conservative MPs and columnists attacked his comments, with many returning to traditional arguments against the British and world football legend: they recall his multi-million-dollar assets, and accuse him of belonging to the “caviar left” (Champagne work(in British slang, or Champagne Labour), and they recommended that he, in a tone as objectively condescending as the one in which they condemn Lineker, “stick to talking about football”. “Another example of how far these big-earning stars are from the nationals. “Instead of lecturing, Mr Lineker should just be reading match scores and promoting potato chips,” Lee Anderson, deputy leader of the Conservative Party, wrote on Facebook. Lineker's promotional contract with the Walker snack brand has been used by the political and media right who have long been interested in him to accuse him of promoting eating habits that favor obesity.
Minister Braverman herself joined the criticism, calling Lineker's comparison to Nazi Germany “inappropriate” and “disappointing.” “I think we stand with the people. And everyone can see clearly that the British have had enough of a situation where thousands of people are coming here illegally, at great cost to taxpayers, and undermining our laws and British generosity. Braverman told the BBC: We have to stop this.”
The British public corporation has very strict behavioral guidelines regarding its journalists' use of social media, but managing Lineker, the non-newsroom collaborator, is more difficult. “I've already spoken to Gary several times, and he's written thousands of tweets. “It's an ongoing conversation, trying to set the bar, and I think he understood what our recommendations were,” Tim Davie recently explained to the parliamentary committee on culture and digital affairs. The BBC promised to highlight Back on the former footballer.
Top scorer at the 86th World Cup in Mexico, and one of the best strikers in the world during his active years, Lineker identified Huffington Post His political stance is fairly moderate: “I lean more to the left than to the right, but I've never felt comfortable in the extremes,” he said. When Barcelona coach Johan Cruyff, in the 1988/89 season, decided to use the English player as a left winger, his goalscoring record dropped significantly.
He was very active in the battle against Brexit – and from that point on he earned the enmity of the Conservative politicians concerned – and did not mince his words when it came to criticizing the then Labor leader, Jeremy Corbyn, for his ambiguity. Double play when defending the UK remaining in the EU.
Lineker was not alone in criticizing the immigration policy of conservative governments, which has come under attack from numerous NGOs, the Church of England, and even King Charles III, when he was still Prince of Wales. “Never in my life have I received so much support and love as I do this morning (except when I scored for England in the World Cup, maybe),” the former player wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. “I want to thank each and every one of you. Your support means a lot. I will continue to try to speak on behalf of those poor souls who have no voice. Thank you all.”
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