AN unrepentant Gary Lineker insisted yesterday that he stood fully with his tweets condemning the Tory ‘Illegal Migrants Bill’ and that he has no intention of backing down and apologising for comparing the language used by the Tories to ‘that used by Germany in the 30s’.
Lineker, presenter of BBC’s Match of the Day, has caused a massive wave of anger from Tory MPs and the right wing press over his comments on social media where he damned the bill saying: ‘This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.’
For the crime of standing up and speaking the truth Lineker has been subjected to a veritable tsunami of hatred and abuse with Tory MPs who, along with the right wing press have lined up to demand his immediate sacking by the BBC.
They are demanding Lineker’s head on a plate for bringing the ‘impartiality’ of the BBC into disrepute by daring to criticise the racist policies and rhetoric of this Tory government.
In a defiant response, Lineker tweeted on Wednesday: ‘Great to see the freedom of speech champions out in force this morning demanding silence from those with whom they disagree.’
So great is their anger, that the Daily Telegraph devoted its front page and editorial to demands for the BBC director-general, Tim Davie, to take action against Lineker to ‘reassert the corporation’s reputation for impartiality’.
Tim Davie, a member of the Conservative Party, is a shining example of the impartiality of the BBC bosses along with former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp who was appointed chairman of the BBC and who has donated over £400,000 to the Tory Party since 2001 according to the Electoral Commission.
Sharp has been embroiled in scandal last month when it was revealed that he helped secure a loan of £800,000 to Boris Johnson, just weeks before Johnson recommended Sharp for the job running the BBC.
So much for impartiality. The BBC is and always has been the mouthpiece and propaganda wing of the capitalist state, with bosses unashamedly promoted from the ranks of the ruling class.
It’s OK to stuff the BBC with ex-bankers and Tory donors but when one sports presenter has the guts to stand up and denounce the vile language used by Braverman and the Tories to justify imprisoning and deporting vulnerable refugees from war and famine, in defiance of international law, then this becomes an outrage to impartiality.
Moving the Bill in Parliament, Braverman used precisely the kind of language that Lineker likened to that used in 1930s Germany. She said that ‘one hundred million displaced around the world and likely billions more eager to come here is possible’ – completely ridiculous numbers conjured out of thin air to directly imply that Britain faced being ‘swamped’.
Similar language was used in Germany in the 30s flowing from a racist outlook that only Germans could be citizens and that any non-German should not have any citizenship rights, or any rights at all.
The Tory migrants bill, backed up with racist talk of being swamped by billions of refugees, seeks to dehumanise asylum seekers, strip them of any legal rights and condemn them to being shunted off to an uncertain fate thousands of miles away to any country willing to exploit them.
Lineker was absolutely justified in drawing attention to this and speaking out in defence of the oppressed against a vile and vicious ruling class, which along with its tame media is determined to silence him.
The trade unions must stand up for Lineker and for all those fleeing wars and starvation caused by world capitalism. The BBC unions, along with the TUC, must make a stand against the Tories who are the real enemy of the working class, not a few thousand desperate migrant men, women and children.
It is not Lineker that should be sacked by this Tory government. In fact, the TUC must get off its knees and call an indefinite general strike to bring the Tories down and bring in a workers government.
A workers government will expropriate the capitalist class and will welcome every worker and young person from any country to join us in the struggle to build a worldwide socialist society.
