Closing summary
The time is 6.10pm. Here is a roundup of the news from today:
Gary Lineker responded: “I can’t say anything” to questions from reporters when he left his home in Barnes, south-west London, to walk his dog on Sunday morning. He was asked: “Do you still want to work for the BBC?”, “Have you spoken to Tim Davie overnight?”, “Have you had discussions with BT or Sky?” and “Is this the end of your presenting career?”, and gave no response.
The BBC has been forced to severely reduce its sports programming for a second day amid a deepening row over Lineker’s suspension. The corporation said Match of the Day 2 and coverage of the Women’s Super League match between Manchester United and Chelsea would be “much reduced” on Sunday.
The commentator Guy Mowbray has confirmed there will be no “normal” edition of Match of the Day 2 this evening. He also said in a tweet that the BBC’s commentary team “are in full agreement with our BBC Sport colleagues”.
Gary Lineker’s son said he thought the sports presenter would return to Match of the Day – but said he would not “back down on his word”. In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, George Lineker said his father had been “a bit disappointed” by the BBC asking him to step back from hosting Saturday’s show.
George Lineker also tweeted he was “proud” of his dad after he was suspended from Match of the Day. He wrote on Twitter: “Proud of the old man after a busy few days. Shouldn’t need to apologise for being a good person and standing by his word. The reaction of the public has been overwhelming. Thanks for the support.”
Match of the Day viewing figures were unaffected by Lineker’s absence on Saturday night. The shortened 20-minute version of the show had no commentary, presenters or pundits, and even the show’s theme music was dropped, as the BBC dealt with the fallout after suspending its highest-paid star.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, called for the BBC’s chair, Richard Sharp, to resign to restore the perception of independence at the corporation. On Lineker’s attack on the government’s “stop the boats” policy, he said during an interview with BBC Breakfast that there were “criticisms to be levelled at the Conservatives”.
The shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves,criticised Tory MPs for “putting pressure” on the BBC to take Lineker off air. She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “I wouldn’t have used the language that Gary Lineker used. But do I think he should be taken off TV from doing commentary on the football? No, I don’t. And I think that was out of proportion.”
The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said “people’s confidence” should be restored in knowing the BBC had no “political agenda”, when he was asked about the Lineker row. Hunt, speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News, said he “personally profoundly disagrees” with the comments the TV pundit made. But, he said: “We need to make sure that what comes out of this is that people’s confidence in the impartiality of the BBC is restored.”
The former Tory chancellor George Osborne backed Lineker, criticising the rhetoric around asylum policy by some in his party. “Personally I think some of the language used on immigration by some Conservatives – not all – is not acceptable,” he told Channel 4’s Andrew Neil show.
The BBC wants to “pick and choose” when its presenters can be impartial, the former England footballer John Barnes said. Speaking to Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Barnes said: “I don’t know when the BBC has ever been impartial, but BBC reporting on the World Cup was anything but impartial.”
Mark Thompson, the former director general of the BBC, called for “calm” and said Lineker technically breached the BBC’s impartiality guidelines. Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said he hoped Lineker and the BBC could block out the “crazy noise in the papers” and find “common ground” to resolve the deepening row.
A former BBC executive described Gary Lineker as a “brilliant” broadcaster but questioned if he had outgrown his role at the broadcaster. Peter Salmon, who among his many roles was previously the controller of BBC One and director of sport, said the impartiality row surrounding the former England footballer was a “mess” and he felt that the director general, Tim Davie, needed to get a grip of the situation.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People said the BBC’s decision not to include commentary on Match of the Day was “unacceptable” and the corporation “needs to do better”.
Meanwhile, Home Office officials altered a Twitter post about the illegal migration bill to remove an image of the newsreader Huw Edwards after complaints from the BBC. The tweet, which contains a video explainer for the legislation, was posted on Tuesday by the Home Office from its official account and initially the accompanying image seen on Twitter feeds was of Edwards, the veteran broadcaster.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Gary Lineker BBC row blog for today. Let’s see if tomorrow brings any sort of resolution to the dispute. Goodbye for now.
Updated
Meanwhile, Home Office officials altered a Twitter post about the illegal migration bill to remove an image of the newsreader Huw Edwards after complaints from the BBC.
The tweet, which contains a video explainer for the legislation, was posted on Tuesday by the Home Office from its official account and initially the accompanying image seen on Twitter feeds was of Edwards, the veteran broadcaster.
The Guardian understands the department did not ask permission to use the clip of Edwards and the broadcaster personally objected to the juxtaposition.
On Wednesday, the BBC asked the Home Office to remove the footage. Rather than delete it, the department amended the clip so Edwards no longer appeared in the first frame, although he does remain in the video.
A BBC spokesperson said:
We contacted the Home Office last week to object to their use of BBC footage and asked them to remove it.
Updated
