Newspaper headlines: BBC faces 'revolt' over Lineker as stars walk out
Gary Lineker dominates Saturday's front pages after the BBC suspended the Match of the Day star in a row over impartiality.
Most of
Saturday's front pages report on Gary Lineker being told to step back
from presenting duties by the BBC over his criticism of language used in
the government's new asylum policy. The i reports on Lineker's Match of
the Day co-stars deciding to walk-out of Saturday's show in
"solidarity".
"Revolt for
Lineker" is the Daily Mirror's headline, as the paper reports on pundits
Ian Wright and Alan Shearer's decision to pull out of Saturday's Match
of the Day programme. A BBC spokesperson said the show will now "focus
on match action without studio presentation or punditry". It follows a
tweet earlier in the week where the Match of the Day host compared the
language used to launch the government's migrant policy with 1930s
Germany.
The Daily
Telegraph says the BBC is "facing a backlash" after its decision to make
Mr Lineker step down from the programme. The paper reports it "plunged
the broadcaster into its latest crisis", as critics are asking why it
"made an example of Lineker while Richard Sharp, the chairman, remains
in his post despite revelations about his involvement in an £800,000
loan arrangement to Boris Johnson".
"Mutiny at BBC
over Lineker red card" is how the Daily Mail sums up the story. The
paper reports that Lineker was "dramatically" dropped from the sports
programme "for his anti-Tory comments on social media". After the
government outlined its plans to ban people arriving in the UK on small
boats from claiming asylum, Mr Lineker called 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".
"Beeb's gone too
VAR" is the Daily Star's headline, as the paper plays on words -
alluding to the video assistant referee used to help referees make
decisions during football games.
In its lead, the Guardian reiterates the coverage across most of
Saturday's front pages, saying Lineker was suspended after the BBC
"insisted his criticism of the government's asylum policies had breached
its impartiality guidelines". It calls the broadcaster's decision an
"unexpected escalation of a crisis that has been brewing all week".
"Mutiny of the
Day" says the Times, as it reports on the BBC being "thrown into a
crisis" as Lineker was ordered off air and fellow presenters pulled out
in solidarity. The paper goes on to picture Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
and French President Emmanuel Macron after a bilateral summit on Friday
where the UK agreed to give France almost £500m over three years to help
stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
The Daily Express
focuses on the Paris summit - reporting on Rishi Sunak's plans to fund
an extra 500 officers and a new detention centre in France, although it
will not be fully operational until the end of 2026. The paper notes the
the prime minister called it a "big step forward" towards ending the
Channel migrant crisis.
The Financial
Times features a symbolic picture of Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, as
the UK and France enter what the paper calls a "new chapter" in their
hope to tackle illegal migration across the Channel.