Lineker row distracts from migrant crisis, says Sunak
‘The real substantive issue here is that 45,000 people illegally crossed the Channel last year’
RISHI SUNAK suggested yesterday that he was frustrated the Gary Lineker row is overshadowing his plans to stop small boats, saying the migrant crisis was the “substantive issue that we should be talking about”.
Public attention has been drawn from the Prime Minister’s new measures to curb illegal Channel crossings by the turmoil at the BBC after the Match of the Day presenter likened the Government’s language around the policy to Nazi Germany.
On his way to San Diego for a defence summit with Joe Biden, the US president, and Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, Mr Sunak called for “perspective” over the tweet, which has seen the host suspended from football coverage.
Mr Sunak told reporters: “The real substantive issue here is about the fact that 45,000 people illegally crossed the Channel last year. That number has gone up four or five times in just two years, and is set to keep increasing.
“That is the substantive issue that we should be talking about. And I believe that we’ve put forward a set of proposals and a policy that will resolve that situation and we’ll do it in an effective way, it will do it fairly and it will do it with compassion.
“And that is what we should be talking about. And I’m happy to talk about that policy with anyone.”
Asked if he would meet Lineker to discuss the matter, Mr Sunak replied: “It’s not about any one person. At the press conference, I recognised people will want to debate the policy as they do with everything. This is a serious issue facing our country.”
He i nsisted the i ssue between Lineker – whom he called a “very talented presenter” – and the BBC was one that “they need to resolve themselves”.
He added: “I hope they can resolve it in a timely fashion … It is important we have perspective. There is a very real issue with tens of thousands of people coming to our country illegally, and I believe we need to have a compassionate and an effective response to that and I believe the proposals the Government have put forward are exactly that.”
Mr Sunak’s press secretary labelled Lineker’s remarks as “not acceptable” and “disappointing” last week.
Jeremy Hunt told the Mail on Sunday he was surprised Lineker had not yet said sorry for his remarks, but then appeared to row back on this yesterday, telling Sky’s Sophy Ridge: “I personally profoundly disagree with the comments that he made. But I think what this shows … is that impartiality at the BBC is really important.”
Yougov polling over the weekend found 53 per cent of the public thought the BBC was wrong to suspend Lineker, with 27 per cent backing the move.
MPS will vote today on the Illegal Migration Bill, with two former ministers leading a rebellion over the plans to detain children who enter the UK illegally with their families.
Caroline Nokes, a former immigration minister, and Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, have said they are opposed to the plan, which ministers claim is necessary to prevent people smugglers targeting women and children. Ms Nokes and Sir Robert claim it reverses a commitment by David Cameron’s coalition government to end child immigration detention and legislation introduced in 2014, which restricted the use of detention for unaccompanied children and families with children.
Ms Nokes said she would not be voting for the Bill when it comes before the Commons, adding: “My concern in the first instance about this Bill is that it’s removing protections for pregnant women, removing protections for families.
“I am deeply troubled at the prospect of a policy which seeks to criminalise children, pregnant women, families and remove them to Rwanda.”
Sir Robert said he would support the Bill but would seek amendments to block the detention of children. “We supported this policy and it is enshrined in law but we are now turning our backs on it. It makes us look ineffective and heartless,” he said.
Yesterday night, George Osborne, former Conservative chancellor, issued his own criticisms of rhetoric around migration within the Tory party as he defended Lineker’s controversial tweet.
He told The Andrew Neil Show: “He’s stuck to what he feels strongly about, and personally I think some of the language used on immigration by some Conservatives, not all, is unacceptable.
“I have a lot of sympathy for Tim Davie, the director general, who’s trying to maintain impartiality within the BBC in a partisan age, but it’s all ended up in a bit of a mess.
“Perhaps they could both step back and come up with some sensible guidelines which allows in a social media age people to post tweets and have opinions, particularly if they’re not in the news part of the BBC.”