Gary Lineker is soon to present his first Match of the Day since his row with BBC bosses over his condemnation of government policy and rhetoric on asylum-seekers.
Much of the BBC’s football coverage effectively collapsed last weekend as fellow presenters, pundits and commentators withdrew their labour in solidarity with the former England player, who was reinstated on Monday.
Lineker has since hit back at Jonathan Gullis, who wrongly claimed he had called red wall voters in the north and Midlands “Nazis” and “racist bigots” – as the Tory MP claimed Rishi Sunak’s planned small boats crackdown had “upset all the right people in the right places”.
With the episode having intensified scrutiny of BBC bosses, the National Union of Journalists has warned that faith in the broadcaster’s director-general Tim Davie “is at an all-time low” – as journalists staged a walkout over proposed cuts to local radio.
It follows outrage within the Conservative ranks at the BBC’s climbdown over Mr Lineker, which saw the corporation apologise order an independent review of its social media guidelines.
