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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Sophie Huskisson

Gary Lineker tears into Tory minister over 'clumsy football analogy' in Twitter row

Gary Lineker became embroiled in a Twitter spat with Tory minister Penny Mordaunt after she used a bizarre football analogy to criticise Labour.

Ms Mordaunt accused Labour of "borrowing from the Gary Lineker playbook" as it tries to jump on opportunities like a "goal hanger" - a player who stays close to the goal waiting for a chance to score.

In response to a video of her making the comments in the chamber, England's fourth-highest goal scorer tweeted: "Thank you for mentioning me in your clumsy analogy.

"I’m just happy to have been better in the 6 yard box than you are at the dispatch box. Best wishes."

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker is England's fourth-highest goal scorer (Getty Images)

In the strange rant in the Commons earlier today, Ms Mordaunt said Labour was "a party of goal hangers and the occasional left-wing striker, hanging around the goal mouth, poised to seize any opportunities and take an easy shot - but that only works if the ball is in the right half".

She went on: "This country doesn't need goal hangers. It needs centre forwards. It needs people that put in the hard work, take tough decisions, grip a problem and work out how to solve it and create those opportunities and that is what we are doing."

"And it needs a team captain who knows his own mind, has a plan and what colour his football shirt is."

In a nod to Labour soaring ahead in the polls, Ms Mordaunt added: "Labour might be up at half time but the second half is yet to be played."

It comes as Lineker is already battling a Twitter row over a tweet he made comparing the government's new asylum policy to Nazi Germany.

He has refused to delete the tweet - which BBC bosses have said they would speak to him about it.

The row started when the Match of the Day presenter retweeted a Home Office video on its new Illegal Migration Bill and described it as "beyond awful".

He said: "There is no huge influx [of refugees]. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.

"This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s."

The legislation is highly controversial as the government wants to detain migrants who enter the country via illegal routes without bail or judicial review and then deport them and block them from from returning.

The PM's deputy spokesman said: "We think that kind of rhetoric is not acceptable and it's disappointing to see but it's up to the BBC to deal with those matters."

A BBC spokesperson told The Mirror: “The BBC has social media guidance, which is published. Individuals who work for us are aware of their responsibilities relating to social media. We have appropriate internal processes in place if required.”

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