BBC ‘turning blind eye’ to Gary Lineker’s tweeting

BBC staff have accused the corporation of double standards for allowing Gary Lineker to campaign against Brexit while other presenters are barred from voicing their opinions.

They complained that the Match of the Day presenter is “untouchable” and that executives turn a blind eye to his political pronouncements.

The BBC said Lineker can express his personal political views because he is not involved in news or current affairs output, and pointed to editorial guidelines that say only staff in “politically sensitive areas” should not be seen to support a particular position.

However, other presenters who work outside the news and current affairs department said they had been reprimanded for expressing political views.

“There is one rule for Gary and one rule for others,” one said.

Staff were said to be astonished

‘The rest of us couldn’t possibly go and tweet about Brexit without being hauled over the coals’

when Lineker was allowed to appear on stage at a rally last month calling for a second referendum.

“Never mind the small print on the editorial guidelines – they state that whatever we say or write can have an influence. Gary is extremely influential, with seven million Twitter followers. He’s running a political campaign and it’s not right,” said one presenter.

Another said: “The rest of us couldn’t possibly go and tweet about Brexit without being hauled over the coals. But there’s this feeling that it’s Gary, and therefore he can do it.”

Earlier this year, members of the BBC Women group were prevented from discussing equal pay on air because they had expressed solidarity with Carrie Gracie, the former China editor, who was found to be paid less than her male colleagues.

They included Jane Garvey, presenter of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, who tweeted: “As I understand it, Gary does sport so he can talk politics. I talk about women and I can’t talk about politics, but I can talk about women and even equal pay as long as I don’t talk on the BBC about equal pay (or the lack of it) at the BBC. Couldn’t be clearer.”

After the BBC published a piece yesterday explaining why Lineker was not breaching guidelines, the presenter tweeted: “Oh dear, looks like I don’t need to stick to football. My deepest apologies in advance.”