By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
A Nottinghamshire council leader repeatedly criticised for his views on social media says Gary Lineker has an “absolute right” to air his opinions on politics – but not while working for the BBC.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Conservative leader Ben Bradley spoke after the Match of the Day presenter divided opinion with a series of Tweets about the Government’s new Illegal Migration Bill.
It followed a video, posted by the Home Office on Tuesday (March 7), in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “This Bill will mean that, if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.
“You will be detained and removed to your home country, if safe, or a safe third country like Rwanda.”
She added: “It’s not fair that people who travel through a string of safe countries and then come to the UK illegally can jump the queue and game our system.
“This Bill will bring an end to that. Enough is enough, we must stop the boats.”
In a string of Tweets, Lineker likened Ms Braverman’s comments to “that used by Germany in the 30s”.
His comments received both condemnation and support online and from MPs. The importance of the impartiality of the BBC has long been a topic of debate because it is publicly-funded by the licence fee.
The corporation has clear political impartiality rules for staff employed in news but its regulations around people working in other capacities such as sport are often described as less clear-cut.
Ms Bravermen herself called Lineker’s comments “lazy and unhelpful” while calls were later made for the Match of the Day presenter to be removed from the flagship show.
The BBC said it had a “frank conversation” with the former England striker following the tweets.
Now Councillor Ben Bradley (Con), Mansfield’s MP and Nottinghamshire County Council leader, has said the pundit does have a right to air his opinions.
However, the Conservative politician believes this should not be done while working for the corporation and only in a “personal capacity”.
Cllr Bradley has previously received several barrages of criticism on social media following posts about a range of issues including gender identity and benefits.
Most recently, Cllr Bradley Tweeted an image of a Mansfield sign on Sunday, February 26 but replaced ‘Man’ with ‘Them’ to read ‘Themsfield’.
The picture referenced singer-songwriter Sam Smith, who identifies as non-binary meaning – they ask to be addressed as they/them rather by gender-specific pronouns.
Following an online backlash to his sharing of the photograph, the county council leader wrote a column in the Mansfield Chad in which he aired his views on freedom of speech.
In the column, he said “the right to free speech is essential to our country and democracy”, before adding: “We need more debate, not less.
“Exploring and discussing ideas is essential to our democracy and although I disagree with much of the criticism levelled at me on this subject, it’s a fundamental right to be able to comment.”
When asked if this “fundamental right” also applies to Gary Lineker, Cllr Bradley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Yes, absolutely, but in a personal capacity.
“The challenge with Gary Lineker is that, unlike me, he works for an organisation that prides itself in being politically impartial.
“He has an absolute right to a view but, if you want to work for an organisation that absolutely sets its stall out as not being political, I don’t think it’s appropriate for him to share that in the way he has.
“If he wants to go and work somewhere else then by all means. If I put a view out and it gets criticism, that’s fine and understandable.
“My roles are to have a view, people elect me to do so and that’s important.
“If he’s going to do the same then he should also expect the criticism as well.”
When asked if he thinks the pundit should be sacked, Cllr Bradley said it’s “not for me to decide”.
Responding to criticism levelled at him online, the Match of the Day host said he had received “incredible support” for the comments.
“It’s been an interesting couple of days,” he Tweeted on Thursday (March 9).
“[I’m] happy this ridiculously out-of-proportion story seems to be abating and [I’m] very much looking forward to presenting Match of the Day on Saturday.
“Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming.”
On Wednesday, he added: “I’ll continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We have spoken to Gary and he won’t face any disciplinary action.
“From our perspective, the situation has been resolved now and we want him to get back to what he’s best at, which is being a brilliant sports presenter.”
