Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has been rebuked for tweeting about political issues by a senior BBC journalist who told him that the broadcaster “lives or dies by its impartiality”. The Times has more (although Guido first broke the story).
Neil Henderson, a home and foreign news editor, asked the Match of the Day presenter on Twitter why he has the freedom to express his views on a wide range of contentious subjects.
Henderson, who is known for tweeting the front pages of newspapers under the tagline “tomorrow’s papers today”, said that if he did the same as Lineker “I’d be sacked”.
In a series of now-deleted tweets Henderson responded directly to Lineker’s tweet, which criticised Conservative MPs who voted against imposing a legal duty on water companies to reduce sewage discharges.
“Do you have the freedom to tweet about this sort of thing because you have a different contract to mine? Because if so I’d be sacked,” Henderson wrote. “Does our duty of impartiality apply across the BBC?”
Henderson added: “The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can’t abide by it, get off it.”
In response, Lineker, 61, who was last year’s highest-paid BBC presenter earning £1.35 million, said he was able to air his views because he does not work in news and current affairs. He also said he was freelance so was subject to different rules.
The BBC editorial guidelines for all staff notes that the “external activities and public comments, for example on social media, of staff, presenters and others who contribute to our output can also affect perceptions of BBC impartiality”.
Specifically, in the section on social media it says those outside news are not bound by all the same restrictions but says individuals “must still avoid bringing the BBC into disrepute”.
In one of his first acts as Director-General Tim Davie, when asked specifically about Lineker’s tweets, told MPs clear social media guidelines covering “both news and current affairs and beyond news and current affairs” would mean anyone in breach of these could be removed from Twitter or face disciplinary action.
Over to you Director-General.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
As news of Mr Anderson’s defection to Reform spread throughout Westminster on Monday morning, one senior Tory backbencher captured the mood by saying that “disbelief is the feeling amongst colleagues.”
Disbelief? Are they seriously surprised by this? What on earth did they expect? Can they really be that dim?
The answer to your last question Tof, is yes.
Dim. Arrogant. So used to getting things their way that they can’t ever envisage not getting things their way.
MPs are expected to put their careers above everything else and joining a dissident right-wing party instead of groveling in one’s waste products (a quote from a 1980s computer game called Starflight) is certainly a career-killing move, hence, disbelief.
Reform is “a dissident right-wing party?”
Sadly, it is not. Middle of the road possibly.
Let’s celebrate our pride in being British: our amazing culture, our unbreakable communities, our incredible heritage.
A statement like this, made in German by a German party, would be sufficient to be branded as arch-nazi by everyone commanding a public voice and to start initial investigations for extreme-right-wing-isms by the Federal Office for Protecting the Constitution (inland secret service). Things aren’t yet as bad on the UK but that’s where the journey is supposed to go to (Gove’s undermining of liberal democracy etc).
Sensible people would describe Reform as traditional centre-right party seeking to occupy the spot the Tories are supposed to be occupy. To career blobsters, that’s far more far right than anything should legally allowed to be. After all, the party is planning a thermageddon genocide of all of mankind by keeping to burn oil, coal and gas.
Stalking horse, pressure valve. I think Reform could be okay, but not under Tice, he’s not the right person, wrong on too many issues. He’s pro mRNA, pro “Covid” measures, pro Net Zero, not calling for peace in Russia v Ukraine so possibly a Neocon warmonger.
Similarly, Lee Anderson is wrong on many issues. And, if we’re being honest Farage.
Farage delivered Brexit, but on many issues he’s equally wrong headed.
I can’t say anything about the other topics, but Reform certainly calls for everything-Net-Zero to be scrapped.
Okay, happy to concede that point, if that is the case. But he was awful regards all things “Covid” and was very pro “vax”.
Someone believing the mRNA injections “might” be useful for the elderly and chronically ill, could be forgiven for being swept along by the all pervasive hysteria, but to suggest mandating, vaccine passports and ignoring the concept of “informed consent” or just “refusal for any reason” is unacceptable and unforgivable.
Yes times were tough in the first couple of years (at least), but some of us had the fortitude and insight to see this was all a massive con and betrayal by those in “charge”. We were betrayed by the people we should have been able to trust and rely on, and Tice and his ilk did not stand up and be counted, despite being offered a very powerful opportunity.
Tice is probably controlled opposition – sadly! Sadly because we need someone genuine, principled, committed and on the side of freedom, rights, truth, with integrity and morality.
The way Reform are polling, they have real potential, not in 1st past the post, but if more do what Lee Anderson has done!
Forcing young girls, who just want to dance, to have vaccines almost certain to mean increased still births, miscarriages, disabled children, infertility. Remember the vaccines still on emergency approval only. Revolting, disgusting.
RICHARD TICE, 19 JULY 2020.
Yes, I’ve heard Tice say that on a number of occasions
They do call for Net Zero to be scrapped. But to do that they will have an almighty battle on their hands against the huge Climate Industrial Complex. ——-I am all for this battle but it is going to be like Kursk on speed
Yes, except his excellent policy of “Net Zero Migration”.
Not their ‘net zero’ migration policy they don’t!
And the candidate they put up in the ‘Groomers of Young White Girls ‘R’ Us’ Rochdale by-election of all places, was a former Labour MP done for sending creepy messages to Young Girls.
Reform needs to up its game considerably and relegate Tice to a back seat behind Nigel.
I pretty much agree with you kev. On all of it.
Lukewarm as my support for Reform is (their net zero migration policy ‘one out, one in’ is ludicrous), if they manage to get even a small wrecking ball to knock the Uniparty skittle drones into disarray, that will be a start.
“Can they really be that dim?”
Oh yes indeed they can and are.
I have the feeling that career politicians feel that if they all swarm around the middle ground it will simply be a question of what bunch of wimps to vote for. They all want to sell the basic stuff like bread butter and milk, because they don’t seem to think the public want anything else. —-I can assure the silly Tories that if they think they are better off just being Labour Lite then they will have no identity anymore.
At last! Just what is needed, now come Nigel join in
And maybe even Andrew Brigden?!
Nigel’s doing a sterling job on GB News …. and I expect his priority is doing whatever he can to help get Trump back in the White House.
That’s great news! Now, Andrew Bridgen, you, too.
Bridgen won’t join Reform because Tice is so wrong on everything “Covid” related. Tice is wrong on a lot of things! So is Farage, sadly!
No, it is you who are wrong, apparently because you haven’t taken time to actually read the Reform policies on their website, or looked up any quotes from Richard Tice, like this one:
“Forcing young girls, who just want to dance, to have vaccines almost certain to mean increased still births, miscarriages, disabled children, infertility. Remember the vaccines still on emergency approval only. Revolting, disgusting.”
RICHARD TICE, 19 JULY 2020.
Lee was wasted in Sunak’s party because there was no place for him. He’s a conservative.
Stout fellow!
True, he was like a trumpet with a wah wah stuck in the end, now he can really let rip!
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/irish-voters-i-salute-you/
Laura Perrins rubbing the Irish establishments noses in their gruesome defeat over a revised Constitution.
Sometimes, just sometimes the plebs do the right thing.
Marvellous.
Now let’s have a referendum on immigration and net zero (yer right, more chance of walking on Mars!)
The problem is we had a referendum, and the blob have spent the last 6 years trying to dilute and destroy what the majority voted for.
We even have a second bercow!
Quite a few column inches (to use the old term) on GBN this lunchtime on that. Having been around for a while, the whole affair reminded me of the formation of the SDP in the early 1980s, when Labour broke apart.
Labour may well break apart again as George G is very keen to stand more candidates & could well take 20 or more seats from them.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/anti-semitic-londons-echoes-of-1930s-berlin/
Londonistan.
This is what you get when somebody with no allegiance to this country is allowed to become Mayor.
I don’t know how the establishment sleeps at night – traitors all.
There were no Arabs shouting anything in “1930s Berlin” and the Arabs currently shouting something in London aren’t burning books written by German communists and communism supporters and other beneficiaries or proponents of the Versailles treaty and the Weimar republic/ system it begat. This (the article) is nothing but another clumsy (very clumsy, actually, as the related events aren’t even superficially similar) to repurpose well-established anti-German stereotypes for supporting the present policy of the government of Israel.
Did we know this? I didn’t know this. Smells like appeasement again, it’s getting way too familiar a stench methinks;
”More than £117m of taxpayers’ money will be used to protect mosques, Muslim schools and community centres from hate attacks over the next four years.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said the money, which will be spent on measures including CCTV cameras, alarms and fencing, would give “reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims”. The announcement, which follows a £70m package for Jewish groups, comes in response to concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza is fuelling division in the UK.
The Government condemned a recent rise in reported anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred and ministers have made it clear they expect the police to fully investigate all hate crimes and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to bring perpetrators to justice.
Mr Cleverly said: “Anti-Muslim hatred has absolutely no place in our society. We will not let events in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse against British Muslims.
“The Prime Minister has made clear that we stand with Muslims in the UK. That is exactly why we have committed to this funding, giving reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims at a time when it is crucially needed.”
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/government-commits-more-117m-protect-28792057
Not that we need any further confirmation of who the Met police favour and give preferential treatment to. We all know who the perma-victims are. So does this mean we can expect zero ‘incidents’ perpetrated by a certain not insignificant section of society now that we’ve entered the ‘peaceful’ month-long Ramadan festival?
https://twitter.com/blonschki/status/1767134772155822437
Go Go Go ———–Thanks for your great contributions. I am going to have to create a new Twitter account to see all the links you post as my last one seems to have bitten the dust. —-cheers.
Cheers, Varmint.
It’s nice to be nice.
Are the front bench idiots doing anything to protect the rightful people of this country whose forefathers and mothers suffered, shed blood and died in numerous wars over centuries against would-be invaders and dictators to keep this country safe and free?
No, they would rather appease the izlamists by spending our taxes protecting jihadis who would like to murder us, & on idealogues who plot to outnumber us, sabotage our society by using democracy against us and turn the UK into the kind of 3rd world izlamic ****hole they came from.
Vile traitors sit in Westminster.
The Tories then have given up being right of centre and have morphed into just another hand wringing bunch of Liberal Progressive wimps. ——–What we do not want though is for Reform to become the rabble rouser party, we still need to make cohesive and sophisticated arguments. —-I say “we” because I now have no choice but to abandon the former conservatives known as Tories and vote for the only right of centre party now available.
QuoteLee Anderson Defects from Globalist Uniparty 1 to Intelligence Agency Outfit.
There, fixed it for you.
Are Reform becoming the GB News of Politics ? Tice backed the Jabs at one point & now word up is that Anderson did too ? + they don’t seem to back Bridgen !
Whoever vetted this chap, should be ashamed. He is not a benefit to anyone’s party. For the simple reason, he believes the covid
saved millions of lives.
I raised this & got a downtick for my trouble
I mentioned this a couple of days ago. For his position on the jibby’s he is suss.
That’s a belief he probably shares with the overwhelming majority of the population who got jabbed because they were told it was the right thing to do and who don’t want to admit – at least not publically – that all they really did was saddle themselves with an avoidable health risk for pharma industry profits and with the ultimate outcome that the covaxxes ceased to be bestselling product because everybody (almost) got tired of being pricked with needles and thus, restarted living in this germ-ridden world as if the pandemic of Corona madness had never occurred. It’s futile to demand perfection from people.
A competent leader uses the wise man, the brave man, the avaricious man and the stupid man. The wise man wants to distinguish himself, the brave man wants to prove his courage by fighting, the avaricious man seeks his own benefit and the stupid man doesn’t fear death.
[Sun Tsu, The Art of War]
Apparently the Party Grandees are planning to fight back by deploying Lord Dave of Greenshill Lobbying and the Fat Oaf on the campaign trail. If they can get the knives out of each other’s and Sunak’s back first, of course.
Now I agree that for some strange reason, the Fat Oaf does seem to appeal to many working class voters. But the Greenshill grifter ….. words fail me.
Do you mean Bunter ? The Booster blaring 80 Seat majority Chunt !!!
We seem to be gearing up to enforce a PR system onto the Westminster Uni Party, which is desperate to keep FPTP ….. with Reform snapping at the heels of the Not-a-Conservative-Party and Galloway gearing up to inflict some serious damage on Fabian-Labour.
Jolly Dee ….
That’s not really a good idea. PR systems cement the division of people instead of representing their unity and invariably lead to professional particians putting the interest of their party above everything else.
One of the reasons why the first world-war was terminated by a revolution in Germany is that particians of the largest party (the SPD) didn’t think, and very much rightly so, it wouldn’t be in the best interest of their own party if the war ended with a German victory or even just with amiable peace negotiations among the warring powers. This caused millions of people to get killed or be driven from their homes (there’s really only one world-war with 20 years of an uneasy armistice in between) but to this day, the SPD is a major, if not the major political force in whatever remains of German it currently controls.
From the standpoint of the SPD, this was absolutely the right strategy and the sacrifces fell mostly onto others.