How involved was the Government in the Gary Lineker saga last week? The BBC’s nuclear reaction to the Match of the Day host’s tweets about the new immigration bill, taking him off air, seemed extreme given that he has tweeted opinions before.
Tory peer Patience Wheatcroft said on Newsnight this week that BBC director-general Tim Davie “came under pressure from the Government”. “I have no doubt about that,” she said. But other officials have a different story. Julia Lopez, media minister, said categorically yesterday that there was “no pressure applied to the BBC by ministers”.
