Gary Lineker thought he was untouchable - but failed to heed the warnings

As the BBC’s highest-earning star, Gary Lineker appeared to have come to the conclusion that he was untouchable.

For years, he has seemed to derive as much pleasure from thumbing his nose at his bosses as he once got from poking another tap-in over the goal line.

By defiantly doubling down on his tweet comparing the language of the Government’s policy on illegal migration to that used in Nazi Germany, he was effectively daring the BBC to sack him.

“I have never known such love and support in my life,” he tweeted from the eye of the storm on Wednesday, notching up 239,000 “likes” as evidence - he thought - that his critics had lost the argument.

As Jeremy Clarkson knows to his cost, however, no one is bigger than the BBC - even those at the helm of their biggest and most profitable programmes.

Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, has made it his mission to enforce the corporation’s rules on impartiality. On Friday night, Lineker discovered just how far Mr Davie’s patience can be tested.

Having refused to do as he was told, Lineker was informed he would be “stepping back” from Match of the Day. Whether he will return is open to question.

In his 16-year career as a footballer, Lineker had the remarkable distinction of never being booked by a referee, but he has found it harder to stay out of trouble off the pitch.

He had already riled Tory MPs with his views on migrants in 2016, when he responded to a suggestion by a Conservative backbencher that dental checks should be used to verify the age of those claiming to be children.

“The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless,” he tweeted. “What’s happening to our country?”

Calls for his sacking were rebuffed by the BBC and last year he kept his job despite a ruling that he had breached impartiality guidelines with a tweet about Conservative donors.

So when Lineker decided to stick the boot into Conservative migration policy once again this week, he undoubtedly thought he would get away with it yet again.

Above a video of Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, explaining her plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel, he said:

Warming to his theme, he wrote in another tweet:

Mrs Braverman, whose husband is Jewish, said his comments were “offensive” because “my children are directly descended from people who were murdered in gas chambers during the Holocaust”.

By using the “lazy” analogy of Nazi Germany, he had diminished “the unspeakable tragedy that millions of people went through”, she added.

Lineker may, at this point, have decided to wind his neck in. Instead, he treated the row as something of a joke.

On Wednesday morning, he tweeted:

He followed up by saying:

Later, he tweeted his “love and support” message, promising he would “continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice”.

He spent part of Wednesday retweeting messages from the likes of Alan Rusbridger, the former Guardian editor, who said it was “ridiculous” that BBC News bulletins were leading on the Lineker row.

The presenter added:

But Downing Street branded Lineker’s rhetoric unacceptable and “disappointing”. Grant Shapps said that as a Jewish Cabinet minister, he needed “no lessons about 1930s Germany” from Lineker.

Unlike Lineker, Mr Davie was taking the matter deadly seriously. He spoke to the presenter, who refused to give any undertaking about his future political comments, and as far as Lineker was concerned that was that.

On Thursday, he told reporters outside his home that he had no regrets about what he had said, that he stood by his comments and that he was not worried about losing his job.

He then tweeted:

Rather than letting the story “abate”, however, Lineker went back on the attack - accusing Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House of Commons, of making a “clumsy analogy” between him and Labour. He added:

For good measure, allies of Lineker briefed newspapers that he would be back on Match of the Day this weekend, in what seemed to be an attempt to present a fait accompli to BBC bosses.

“Lineker Escapes a Red,” reported The Sun, alongside a news story that said “the star was given a dressing-down but will face no disciplinary action over his tweets”.

Lineker may be a follower of party politics, but he appears to have little concept of office politics.

Mr Davie had warned staff about their use of social media when he started his job in 2020 and has since tightened the corporation’s guidelines on the use of Twitter.

More importantly, he is engaged in a battle for the future of the licence fee, which is due to be abolished in its current form in 2027. He is constantly trying to find ways to cut costs after the Government froze BBC funding.

Lineker, who is paid more than £1.3 million, has long been a lightning rod for criticism of BBC profligacy by politicians. Getting him off the payroll would solve two problems in one, regardless of how popular Lineker may or may not be with viewers.

On Friday, Lineker’s Twitter feed went uncharacteristically silent. Then came the news that he would “step back” from Match of the Day until he and the BBC could reach an “agreed and clear position” on his social media use. Mr Davie may well be hoping that Lineker picks up his ball and walks away.