A majority of the UK public believe that the BBC was wrong to suspend Gary Lineker, a snap poll has revealed. The survey by YouGov said that 53% of people think that the public broadcaster was wrong to remove the popular presenter from Match of the Day following his comments on social media about the Government’s asylum policy.
Just over a quarter (27%) thought that the broadcaster was right to suspend the popular host and a fifth (20%) said they didn't know. Labour (75%) and Liberal Democrat (73%) voters were most likely to think that the BBC made the wrong decision compared to just over a third (36%) of Conservatives. In comparison, half (51%) of Tory voters believe the broadcaster made the right decision, along with 10% of Labour voters and 14% of Liberal Democrats.
Much of the BBC’s television and radio coverage has been impacted following Lineker’s suspension. Half (51%) of Britons believed that presenters on the likes of Football Focus were right to pull out of programmes while 28% thought they were wrong to do so. View again split along political lines with Labour (75%) and Liberal Democrats (68%) being more likely than Conservatives (33%) to think presenters made the right decision, whereas Tories (51%) were more likely than Labour (10%) and Liberal Democrats (13%) to believe they made the wrong decision.
