BBC star Gary Lineker says critics of his political views and online posts have a 'lack of empathy' and says he will carry on because he would be 'ashamed' to stay quiet

• He dismissed criticism that he 'should stay out of politics' and stick to football
• England legend said lack of empathy towards migrants is 'incomprehensible' 

Gary Lineker has suggested his critics lack empathy - and that he would be 'ashamed' of himself if he didn't speak out on social media.

The 63-year-old Match of the Day presenter said social media has 'changed' the way he views the world and encouraged him to use his large following 'as a power for good'.

And he dismissed criticism that he 'should stay out of politics' by saying the topics he campaigns on are 'humanitarian issues'.

The England football legend condemned what he termed 'tribality' in social media and said he found a lack of empathy towards migrants 'incomprehensible'.

Speaking on podcast Ruthie's Table 4 he said: 'Human beings [are] not being kind enough to each other everywhere: particularly this kind of tribality that we have - it's them and us, and they're foreigners, and they're coming here.

'Put yourself in a situation where say it was London and suddenly we're being bombed like they are perhaps now in Gaza or that kind of situation. Imagine you had to try somehow to flee home and you jumped in a very risky boat and you travel around half the world and eventually arrive at a country and nobody wants you.

'It's just the lack of empathy that I find hard to believe: imagine how desperate things have got to be to jump in a dinghy and risk your life and the lives of your children to seek of sanctuary.

'I think it's incomprehensible. I understand some people don't have any empathy at all for anyone [but] I would have been ashamed of myself if I didn't at least take a stance about something that I felt quite strongly about.'

The former England striker's use of social media is often a cause of controversy.

He caused uproar last March after a social media post comparing rhetoric around the government's migration policy to Nazi Germany in the 1930s.

He was removed from hosting Match of the Day by the BBC but returned after a boycott by pundits and commentators left the corporation running a skeleton-schedule of sports programming.

In December he appeared to mock Grant Shapps in a post on X, formerly Twitter, and was accused by Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis of breaking the BBC's impartiality rules.

Lineker has also been a vocal critic of Brexit and has previously backed campaigns for a second EU referendum.

His use of social media has been heavily criticised - including by BBC colleagues with, Test Match Special commentator, Jonathan Agnew even saying he would 'be sacked' if he was to post similar content to Lineker.

But the FA Cup winner, and English Football Hall of Fame inductee, suggested he's got no intention of curtailing views.

He said: 'People say you should stay out of politics and stuff: I don't really see them necessarily as just political issues. I think they're humanitarian issues that I take a stand for. I think I've changed as a person as I've got older: when I was young I was cold, I was driven, I never thought about things like that.

'What changed for me really was social media because I got involved: got on Twitter and I quite enjoyed it and I grew a big following. If you've got a platform like that, I just think what a waste it would be not to use it as a power for good.'