Gary Lineker responds to The Sun article claiming he was ‘peddling lies’ over child refugees comments
‘Getting a bit of a spanking today, but things could be worse – imagine, just for a second, being a refugee having to flee from your home’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Gary Lineker says his comments about child refugees resulted in him receiving “a bit of a spanking” but dismissed claims by The Sun the BBC was under pressure to fire him.
The football pundit and former England striker was subjected to a torrent of abuse after calling the response to the resettling of child refugees in Britain “hideously racist”.
A front page article in The Sun on Friday declared: “OUT ON HIS EARS! Leftie luvvie Gary Lineker ‘should be sacked’ for peddling charity lie about ‘child migrant, 38’.”
The UK has committed to take more unaccompanied child refugees from the makeshift Calais camp, known as the Jungle, as the French authorities attempt to demolish it. Fourteen teenagers from countries such as Syria, Sudan and Afghanistan arrived in Britain from Calais on Monday.
But a number of those arriving in the UK were accused of looking older than 18, leading Lineker to respond on Twitter: “The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country?”
A critical article published in The Sun claimed Lineker was accused of breaching BBC impartially guidelines, which state that presenters’ “external activities” must not affect the public perception of the corporation’s impartiality.
In response to the criticism, Mr Lineker tweeted: “Getting a bit of a spanking today, but things could be worse – imagine, just for a second, being a refugee having to flee from your home.”
When one tweeted at him to say they hoped he would lose his job because he “deserved it”, Lineker replied unequivocally: “I won’t”.
His spokesperson also had a categorical response to the newspaper’s request for comment: “He won’t be commenting, especially not to you.”
A spokesperson for The BBC said: “Gary is a freelance broadcaster and this is a personal Twitter account.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments