![]() ![]() I have never known such love and support in my life than I’m getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly). It should be made clear that Lineker received widespread support for his stance, with many believing he was expressing erudite and compassionate opposition to the government’s policy. ![]() This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?” What was the reaction? “We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. Lineker then responded to another Twitter user: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful,” he tweeted about a video of Braverman explaining that asylum seekers who arrive in the UK in ‘small boats’ would not just be denied asylum, but also access to a range of other rights (such as sex trafficking protection), and would be returned to “their own country if safe or, if not, a third country”. However, this latest furore was sparked after he criticised the Conservative government’s most recent anti-immigration policy, put forward by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Lineker is known for his centre-left political leanings, and hasn’t been afraid to express his opinions in public - mostly on his Twitter account which, at the time of writing, has over 8.7million followers. He’s the BBC’s highest-paid presenter, earning £1.35million ($1.62million) a year. An elite sportsman who wasn’t quite the greatest of his generation, and also a much-loved broadcaster. If he was American, he would be roughly what you’d get if you genetically spliced Derek Jeter and Bob Costas together. ![]() He famously finished his international career with 48 goals, one short of the England record held at the time held by Bobby Charlton. He played 80 times for England, captained his country on a number of occasions and was the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup. Lineker is slightly unusual in that he was an elite footballer who moved into the television studio after his playing career - but as a presenter rather than a pundit. This followed a week of outrage, mainly from right-wing politicians and sections of the media, about his political opinions. However, this weekend he won’t be in the chair, having being told to stand down by the BBC, who stated that “after extensive discussions with Gary and his team in recent days” it had “decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”. The show itself first aired on the BBC in 1964 and - barring a few years away in the late 1980s and early 90s, and again in the early 2000s - has been broadcast almost every weekend since, becoming a cultural institution. Lineker has fronted the Saturday night programme, which shows highlights of that day’s Premier League fixtures, since 1999. ![]()
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