I have long known that the sanctimonious impartiality from the BBC was an utter facade; as a staunch republican, their attentive coverage of the royal family and their supporters, versus
the total lack thereof of those who oppose them, made this eminently clear. Who would have known that all it would take was a tweet from the man who presents Match of the Day, to shatter this illusion for everyone else?
Gary Lineker took to Twitter to draw comparisons between the language used by the Conservative Government about migrants, and that used in 1930s Germany. Cue uproar. Tory supporters called for his removal from the BBC, for expressing his own views, on his
own personal Twitter account, and astonishingly, the broadcaster complied. Though Lineker has since been reinstated, and the BBC issued an apology, the damage has been done.
To touch on what Lineker said in his tweet, Holocaust comparisons are certainly not something I would encourage. But was he incorrect to compare the rhetoric of intolerance that permeated pre-war Germany to modern day Britain? “Parasites,” “vermin,” “cockroaches,” “invasion.” Two of those words were used by the Nazi party about Jewish people, the others by the Tory government about refugees. Lineker did not claim the treatment of migrants to be on par with genocide, and it is wrongful that some have accused him of such. He simply drew attention to the sinister implications of using language and messaging to foster hatred for groups of people and use them as scapegoats for wider national problems. It is a grim conclusion to draw, but in this way the Conservative Government and 1930s Germany are similar. This issue is with this unsettling truth, not the fact that Lineker pointed it out.
The BBC’s suggestion that their employees cannot express their opinions is, frankly, ridiculous. Not to mention the countless times others have done so and faced no repercussions. Why wasn’t Alan Sugar fired when he tweeted a picture of Jeremy Corbyn sat next to Hitler? How did Andrew Neil get away with wearing a tie bearing the logo of The Adam Smith institute on Daily Politics? I will hazard a guess that it has something to do with Chairman of the BBC being a Tory party donor, the Director-General a former chairman of
Hammersmith and Fulham Conservatives, and the Director of News previously directing the news section of GB News. And some still accuse BBC of left-wing virtue signalling.
There’s impartiality and then there’s censorship. In reacting as they did to Lineker’s tweet, the BBC made more of a political statement than if they had allowed him to state his view. Impartiality within the BBC is in a highly tenuous position. When they attempt to
remove people’s right to express their beliefs on their personal platforms, they threaten the freedom of expression in this country. Whether you agree with Gary Lineker or not, he had every right to make his point, a right everyone in Britain should have.
“Decade of Action at Man United” by makeroadssafe is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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So much for BBC impartiality
I have long known that the sanctimonious impartiality from the BBC was an utter facade; as a staunch republican, their attentive coverage of the royal family and their supporters, versus
the total lack thereof of those who oppose them, made this eminently clear. Who would have known that all it would take was a tweet from the man who presents Match of the Day, to shatter this illusion for everyone else?
Gary Lineker took to Twitter to draw comparisons between the language used by the Conservative Government about migrants, and that used in 1930s Germany. Cue uproar. Tory supporters called for his removal from the BBC, for expressing his own views, on his
own personal Twitter account, and astonishingly, the broadcaster complied. Though Lineker has since been reinstated, and the BBC issued an apology, the damage has been done.
To touch on what Lineker said in his tweet, Holocaust comparisons are certainly not something I would encourage. But was he incorrect to compare the rhetoric of intolerance that permeated pre-war Germany to modern day Britain? “Parasites,” “vermin,” “cockroaches,” “invasion.” Two of those words were used by the Nazi party about Jewish people, the others by the Tory government about refugees. Lineker did not claim the treatment of migrants to be on par with genocide, and it is wrongful that some have accused him of such. He simply drew attention to the sinister implications of using language and messaging to foster hatred for groups of people and use them as scapegoats for wider national problems. It is a grim conclusion to draw, but in this way the Conservative Government and 1930s Germany are similar. This issue is with this unsettling truth, not the fact that Lineker pointed it out.
The BBC’s suggestion that their employees cannot express their opinions is, frankly, ridiculous. Not to mention the countless times others have done so and faced no repercussions. Why wasn’t Alan Sugar fired when he tweeted a picture of Jeremy Corbyn sat next to Hitler? How did Andrew Neil get away with wearing a tie bearing the logo of The Adam Smith institute on Daily Politics? I will hazard a guess that it has something to do with Chairman of the BBC being a Tory party donor, the Director-General a former chairman of
Hammersmith and Fulham Conservatives, and the Director of News previously directing the news section of GB News. And some still accuse BBC of left-wing virtue signalling.
There’s impartiality and then there’s censorship. In reacting as they did to Lineker’s tweet, the BBC made more of a political statement than if they had allowed him to state his view. Impartiality within the BBC is in a highly tenuous position. When they attempt to
remove people’s right to express their beliefs on their personal platforms, they threaten the freedom of expression in this country. Whether you agree with Gary Lineker or not, he had every right to make his point, a right everyone in Britain should have.
“Decade of Action at Man United” by makeroadssafe is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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