Gary Lineker takes swipe at BBC as he says bosses 'know they made a mistake' by taking him off air last year and insists 'common sense prevailed'
Gary Lineker has taken a swipe at the BBC by saying bosses know 'they made a mistake' by taking him off air last year.
Lineker was suspended from Match of the Day three days after he posted a string of anti-Tory tweets on March 7, 2023.
The former England football captain called the government's migrant crackdown 'immeasurably cruel' and likened it to Nazi Germany, which critics said breached the Beeb's strict impartiality rules.
The football pundit, who is the BBC's highest paid star with earnings of £1.35million a year, later returned to his role after colleagues boycotted the flagship show in his honour.
But now Lineker has told Noble Rot Magazine that 'common sense prevailed' when he was reinstated.
Lineker (pictured) was suspended from Match of the Day three days after he posted a string of anti-Tory tweets on March 7, 2023
After the pundit was reinstated, Tim Davie (pictured) launched a review of social media guidelines - which Lineker later confirmed he was 'partly involved in drawing up'.
Lineker said: 'They made a mistake. They know that. I think they recognised that. It was one of those things, but we're fine now.'
The former England striker revealed he was eating at a modern Mexican restaurant called KOL in Marylebone, in Central London, when he found out he had to take a step back from Match of the Day.
Lineker also recalled the moment he received a standing ovation from shoppers in the Barnes branch of Marks and Spencers during his suspension.
He said: 'Pretty much everyone apart from the hard-Right supported me. It was stupid.
'A social conscience is now deemed as 'woke' when actually it's basically about caring. If you care a bit, have empathy, people want to insult you and see that as 'woke'.'
Lineker added that he was 'not tribal at all', saying: 'I've voted for everyone. Green, Liberal, Labour – and Conservative.'
After the pundit was reinstated, Tim Davie, BBC's director-general, launched a review of social media guidelines - which Lineker later confirmed he was 'partly involved in drawing up'.
Suella Braverman herself replied to Lineker's comments.
While on BBC Breakfast, she said: 'I'm disappointed. Obviously I think it's unhelpful to compare our measures which are lawful, proportionate and indeed compassionate to 1930s Germany.'
In a defiant message to his 8.7million Twitter followers, Lineker said: 'I have never known such love and support in my life than I'm getting this morning (England World Cup goals aside, possibly).
Criticising Lineker, Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said on Twitter: 'As a Jewish Cabinet minister I need no lessons about 1930s Germany from @GaryLineker.
'Like Gary, I am hosting refugees in my own home, but unlike Gary, I do not believe it is either right or moral to tolerate criminal gangs trafficking vulnerable people across the Channel.'
Labour also condemned the comments, with Sir Keir Starmer's spokesman saying comparisons with the Nazis 'aren't always the best way to make' an argument.
