GARY Lineker has been told to “get off” the BBC by a senior colleague for his political tweets.
Match of the Day presenter Lineker, who is paid £1.35m a year, criticised MPs for letting sewage get onto beaches. In response, Home and Foreign News editor Neil Henderson tweeted: “The BBC lives or dies by its impartiality. If you can’t abide it, get off it”. Lineker replied that he’s freelance, and has a different contract to those in news. Henderson later deleted the posts.
In 2020, staff were told not to share views on controversial subjects if they worked in news, as well as told not to attack colleagues. Ex-BBC employee Emily Maitlis, who later left the Corporation, was told off for her tweets.
An insider at the Beeb tells us many think that “it’s not helpful for Lineker to keep spouting stuff at a time we’re constantly under attack”.
Why the French will like Chagos Islands book
LAWYER Philippe Sands’s latest book, The Last Colony, is about the Chagos Islands, which are claimed by Mauritius. Sands tells us Foreign Secretary and likely PM Liz Truss gets the issue, saying: “I’m hopeful that change is imminent”. He adds Boris Johnson was something of a “secret weapon” when fighting the case, due to poor “handing of the issue”. Sands thinks the tome will sell better across the Channel, as “the French love a Brit-bashing book”.
Cabinet or Metaverse for Matt Hancock
Matt Hancock is joining the Metaverse. Here’s his avatar: pic.twitter.com/65dkkhXaxb
— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) August 24, 2022
Since he broke lockdown rules last year Matt Hancock has been in the political wilderness. But he’s hoping for a return to Cabinet if underdog Rishi Sunak becomes PM. Sunak is so keen on the former Health Sec he has asked him to step in at a disabled Tory members hustings on Friday. If Liz Truss wins, Hancock can retreat into the digital realm: today he was the first MP to reveal his hunky avatar on Facebook’s Metaverse.
Hugh Bonneville’s comes by to tell us about his latest villain
Kelly Macdonald and Hugh Bonneville launched their Netflix film I Came By at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho last night. It seems Hugh doesn’t mind being typecast as the posh villain, telling us: “I think this is just a slightly different shade of the same characters, really”. Influencers Freddy Cousin-Brown and Janice Joostema were there too. In Mayfair, actor Imogen Poots and model Frankie Herbert were at Scott’s with wine brand Bird In Hand.
William Orbit plans noise in Venice
Producer William Orbit’s music fuelled London nightlife for years, but now he’s taking the party to sleepy Venice. “I’m living there now,” Orbit told us at the Soho launch of his new album last night. “Everyone goes to bed early — but I’m going to change that!”
