BBC presenter Gary Lineker will be spoken to by the broadcaster after he compared the UK’s controversial migrant policy to Nazi Germany, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
Lineker, who presents the program “Match of the Day,” slammed as “beyond awful” a proposed migration bill that would allow for the detention and swift removal of anyone who enters the UK illegally.
A BBC spokesperson said the former football player would be “reminded of his responsibilities,” after he said the policy’s language was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”
The government bill was introduced in parliament on Tuesday. Lineker had objected specifically to the language Home Secretary Suella Braverman used while introducing it, particularly on the stopping of migrant boats traversing the English Channel.
In response to a video message by Braverman about stopping migrant boats, he tweeted: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
Lineker defended his comments which sparked anger among some conservative politicians, on Twitter, saying: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.”
He added: “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, and I’m out of order?”
According to BBC, Lineker is not bound by the same social media policies as the corporation’s news and current affairs staff. But it added that BBC chief Tim Davie had previously discussed with him the matter of his social media comments.
The new bill would allow the detention of people for up to 28 days without bail or judicial review. It would be the duty of the Home Secretary to remove illegal immigrants.
On Tuesday the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) voiced concern about the matter, saying “if it was passed, the UK asylum legislation would amount to an asylum ban.”
Source: Anadolu Agency