Eamon Dunphy has slammed Gary Lineker for the Nazi comments he made about the UK’s Tory party that has seen the BBC force him to step down from his role as Match of the Day presenter.
Outspoken Dunphy said Lineker was wrong to compare the British Government’s migration policy to Nazi Germany, and accused of him of “attention seeking” by doing so. Lineker has been hauled over the coals by the BBC after he tweeted on Tuesday that the UK Government’s migration policy was 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 last night the broadcaster stated that Lineker has been told to step back from presenting Match of the Day until an agreement is reached on his social media use. The move by the BBC has been slammed by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) as a “massive own goal on the part of the BBC to yield to sustained political pressure.”
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However, Dunphy said: “There is no doubt that the Tory government are loathsome. They are right-wing slags and sleazeballs, but they cannot be compared to the Nazis. It was stupid of Gary Lineker to make that comparison as it diminishes the real horror of what the Jewish people went through at the hands of the Nazis.
“He has been outspoken on social media before but this time he has gone over the top. It was outrageous and provocative. I think it was attention seeking.” Dunphy added that the BBC are within their rights to seek an agreement with Lineker over his social media use.
He said: “I am all for free speech and I don’t like to see people being censored, but in this case what Lineker has posted was an insult to the Jewish people.” Last night, the BBC said it considered Lineker’s “recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines”.
It added he should “keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies”. It “decided that he will step back from presenting Match of the Day until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media”, the statement said.
Fellow pundit Ian Wright said he will not appear in “solidarity”, tweeting: “Everybody knows what Match of the Day means to me, but I’ve told the BBC I won’t be doing it tomorrow. Solidarity.” Alan Shearer, who also presents, said he had “informed the BBC that I won’t be appearing on MOTD tomorrow night”.
Alex Scott also confirmed she will not be appearing by tweeting a GIF of Bernie Sanders saying: “Nah! Not me.” Micah Richards and Jermaine Jenas said the same.
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