Piers Morgan has come to Gary Lineker's defence after the latter criticised the government's new asylum policy.
The Talk TV host said that while Lineker's remarks were "clearly incendiary" his opinions "should not matter to the BBC's news output" because The Match Of The Day host is not a news reporter. The 62-year-old received a wave of backlash from the Tory Party after comparing the language used to launch the policy with that of 1930s Germany.
Both Morgan and Lineker have previously clashed on multiple occasions due to differing opinions on various topic. However, Morgan said on Talk TV on Wednesday that he had "no problem" with Lineker expressing his personal views online.
Read more: Gary Lineker thanks fans for 'love and support' after criticising new asylum policy
“Gary got a bit carried away, as he tends to do. We get into it quite regularly, this is what he does and he would say the same about me,” he said. We both have strong opinions, we both believe in what we say and we express them forcefully, but we agree to disagree.
“And I have no problem with Gary Lineker, a football presenter, sports presenter, from giving his views.
“He’s not a BBC news journalist, he’s not anchoring The News at 10 or Question Time or Newsnight, he’s a football presenter doing Match Of The Day and other major sporting events. He’s a celebrity and a public figure, his eight and a half million followers want to know what he thinks about stuff.
“Why do we pretend that people like him exist in a sealed BBC bubble of perfect propriety, when no opinions exist? Who cares what Gary Lineker really says about government policy on stuff?
In the end he’s just a football presenter, and I don’t mean that to denigrate him, he’s very good at it. But he’s not a news presenter. So it shouldn’t matter to the BBC’s news output what he thinks about the migrant situation.”
What do you think? Have your say in our comments below.
Morgan noted that if Lineker had made the remarks while presenting Match Of The Day then the criticism would have been "justified", but this wasn't the case. He continued: "If you decide not to watch him because of opinions, that’s your right.
"But I don’t think you can be a campaigner for free speech as I am and just turn off the tap, because I don’t like the opinion I’m hearing.”
“If Lineker was cheering the government for getting to grips with the migrant crisis, the very people now demanding he be fired would be wanting him to get a statue in Trafalgar Square.”
Sharing the Talk TV clip, Morgan added: “Bad news @GaryLineker – I’m your defence,” to which Lineker responded, “I’m doooooomed”.
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