The BBC’s Director General Tim Davie apologised for “potential confusion caused by the grey areas” of its social media guidelines.
Under the BBC’s strict rules of impartiality, journalists and other presenters in news and current affairs are forbidden from airing views on social media that undermine the corporation’s reputation for impartiality.
But the “grey areas” include whether presenters of sports and other programmes are included, especially if they are freelancers.
Lineker, 62, was taken off air last week after he wrote in a Twitter post that the government, in its policy on illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel, was using language similar to that used in 1930s Germany.
The former England centre forward has 8.8 million followers on Twitter and has frequently aired his opinions on non-sporting matters, including politics.
His comments outraged the ruling Conservative Party but when the BBC decided Lineker would “step back” from presenting the flagship Saturday night programme he was backed by pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, who refused to appear on the show.
In a statement on Monday, Davie said: “Everyone recognises this has been a difficult period for staff, contributors, presenters and, most importantly, our audiences. I apologise for this.”
“The potential confusion caused by the grey areas of the BBC’s social media guidance that was introduced in 2020 is recognised. I want to get matters resolved and our sport content back on air,” he added.
Davie said the BBC’s social media guidelines would be reviewed by an independent expert, with a particular focus on how it applied to freelancers outside news and current affairs.
He said Lineker was “in favour of such a review” and added, “Gary has agreed to abide by the guidance whilst the independent review takes place.”
Lineker Thanks Colleagues for ‘Show of Solidarity’
He also wrote on Twitter: “After a surreal few days, I’m delighted that we have navigated a way through this. I want to thank you all for the incredible support, particularly my colleagues at BBC Sport, for the remarkable show of solidarity. Football is a team game but their backing was overwhelming.”Lineker added: “I’d like to thank Tim Davie for his understanding during this difficult period. He has an almost impossible job keeping everybody happy, particularly in the area of impartiality.”
The row began last Tuesday when the government unveiled its Illegal Migration Bill, which will ban anyone who arrives in the UK illegally from claiming asylum.
Under the new law, illegal entrants will be swiftly removed from the UK to their home country or a safe third country like Rwanda. They will also be banned from reentry.
Lineker reacted to it on Twitter, calling it an “immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”
The Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, reacted angrily to the remark.
Although he did not refer to Lineker by name, Cleverly told LBC, “There are some people desperate to gain attention by using deeply offensive and inappropriate language about this and I would gently suggest they use their history books a little bit more carefully.”
Cleverly added, "The simple truth of the matter is the UK is a welcoming and hospitable country.”
BBC Chairman’s Position ‘Increasingly Untenable’
He said the position of the chairman of the BBC, Richard Sharp, was becoming “increasingly untenable.”Starmer said, “How on earth is he still in position but Gary Lineker has been taken off air?”
Sharp, a former banker with Goldman Sachs, was appointed chairman of the BBC by the government in February 2021.
But the appointment raised eyebrows when it emerged that Sharp had later helped former Prime Minister Boris Johnson secure an £800,000 loan facility.
Sharp is currently being investigated but the shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell have both questioned his position in the light of the Lineker row.
Davie denied he had “bowed to pressure” from Conservative politicians and media commentators when suspending Lineker and said while it was “a convenient narrative, it’s not true.”
Davie said: “The impartiality guidelines would be equally applied in terms of being critical of the left or the right. The issue is getting involved in party political matters and we apply that independently.”
The last time the BBC was embroiled in such a major row with the government was in 2003 when BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan produced a radio report which claimed the Labour government had “sexed up” a dossier on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
Gilligan’s source, scientist David Kelly, later committed suicide and an inquiry, led by Lord Hutton, was set up to investigate the events leading up to Kelly’s death.
