BBC 'caving to whingeing Tories' over Gary Lineker, says Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer has accused the BBC of 'caving' to 'whingeing Tory MPs' over the Gary Lineker row.
The Labour leader said the England legend's suspension from Match of the Day was a result of the Government refusing to take responsibility for the mess they'd made of the asylum system.
And he said the broadcaster had got their response "badly wrong."
"The BBC is not acting impartially by caving in to tory MPs complaining about Gary Lineker," Mr Starmer said, speaking at Welsh Labour Conference in Llandudno.
"They've got this one badly wrong and now they're very, very exposed. "
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He added: "At the heart of this, it's very important to see what's going on. Because the Government has failed on the asylum system, but instead of taking responsibility they're blaming anybody else, Gary Lineker, the BBC, the Civil Service, the 'blob' - you name it.
"They'll blame everybody else apart from themselves. They should stand up and take responsibility, stop whingeing about Gary Lineker and get on with the job."
The Mirror has launched a petition calling on the BBC to back down and reinstate Mr Lineker.
Keir Starmer speaking at Welsh Labour Conference in Llandudno (Getty Images)Football Focus and Final Score have been pulled from the BBC schedules at the last moment, throwing the corporation's sporting timetable into disarray.
Bargain Hunt aired in place of Football Focus on BBC One at noon on Saturday, while The Repair Shop is due to run instead of Final Score at 4.30pm, as the corporation faces a backlash after Gary Lineker was taken off Match Of The Day (MOTD).
Ahead of the antiques show starting, a continuity announcer said: "Saturday lunchtime on BBC One, now, in a change to the schedule, it's Bargain Hunt."
BBC Radio 5 Live has also been affected, with host Mark Chapman not at the helm for 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk.
BBC presenter Colin Murray said in a tweet, of 5 Live's Fighting Talk not airing: "No FightingTalk316 today, for obvious reasons.
"In the interest of transparency, this was a decision taken by the entire FT team and myself."
The Kammy & Ben's Proper Football Podcast aired during Fighting Talk's slot followed by The Footballer's Football Podcast which played on Radio 5 Live when 5 Live Sport would have aired.
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It comes as a host of sports presenters and pundits have pulled out of BBC shows after Lineker was told to step back from hosting Saturday's sporting programme in a row over impartiality.
Lineker did not answer questions from reporters when he left his home in south-west London on Saturday morning.
Dressed in a blue suit, white shirt and blue tie with yellow and red stripes, the 62-year-old former England player was quickly escorted into a chauffeured BMW.
His son Harry later told reporters that he was on his way to watch a Leicester City match
As he left to walk the dog, he said: "He has gone to Leicester to watch the game. He will be back this evening."
Former Arsenal star and England player Alex Scott earlier in the day confirmed she would not host Football Focus, saying "it doesn't feel right for me to go ahead with the show" as she joined a number of presenters pulling out of BBC shows
She wrote on Twitter : "I made a decision last night that even though I love my show and we have had an incredible week winning an SJA for football focus that it doesn't feel right for me to go ahead with the show today.
"Hopefully I will be back in the chair next week."
Kelly Somers also confirmed she will not be presenting any BBC show on Saturday, after former England footballers Alan Shearer and Ian Wright announced on Friday night they would be boycotting MOTD in solidarity with Lineker.
Pundit Glenn Murray pulled out of appearing on Football Focus and Final Score on Saturday.
The former Brighton striker tweeted: "Was meant to be up in Media City today but reflecting last night I felt it was the right thing to do to step away from Focus & Score today.
"Hoping normal service resumes next week."
Match of the Day will go ahead without presenters or pundits (PA)Welsh presenter Jason Mohammad also confirmed he would not be hosting Final Score, tweeting: "As you know, Final Score is a TV show very close to my heart.
"However - I have this morning informed the BBC that I will not be presenting the show this afternoon on BBC One."
Football pundit Dion Dublin said "No 5live for me today" as a mark of solidarity with BBC Sport colleagues.
In a tweet, the former Aston Villa and Manchester United striker said: "In Solidarity with my BBC Sport colleagues NO 5live for me today!"
On Friday evening, several Match Of The Day commentators shared a joint statement online, announcing they would be stepping down from Saturday's broadcast.
The commentators, including Steve Wilson, Conor McNamara, Robyn Rowen and Steven Wyeth, said they did "not feel it would be appropriate to take part in the programme" given the current circumstances.
The BBC show is due to go ahead on Saturday evening without a presenter, pundits and several regular commentators.
In a previous statement, the BBC said the programme would "focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry", saying it understood the position of its presenters.
Lineker was taken off air for a tweet which compared the language used to launch a new Government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany.
The broadcaster said it had "decided" Lineker would take a break from presenting the highlights programme until an "agreed and clear position" on his use of social media had been reached.
Former BBC director-general Greg Dyke said the corporation had made a "mistake" and "undermined its own credibility" by taking Lineker off air.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the precedent at the corporation is that "news and current affairs employees are expected to be impartial and not the rest".
"If you start applying the rules of news and current affairs to everybody who works for the BBC, where does it end?", he said.
He added: "There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that is, that if you're an entertainment presenter or you're a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same (impartiality) rules.
"The real problem of today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this because it looks like - the perception out there - is that the BBC has bowed to Government pressure.
"And once the BBC does that, then you're in real problems.
"The perception out there is going to be that Gary Lineker, a much-loved television presenter, was taken off air after Government pressure on a particular issue."
A spokesman for the Professional Footballers' Association said in a statement on Twitter that they had "been informed that players involved in today's games will not be asked to participate in interviews with Match Of The Day".
It continued: "The PFA have been speaking to members who wanted to take a collective position and to be able to show their support for those who have chosen not to be part of tonight's programme.
"During those conversations we made clear that, as their union, we would support all members who might face consequences for choosing not to complete their broadcast commitments.
"This is a common sense decision that ensures players won't now be put in that position."
The Mirror has launched a petition to have Gary Lineker reinstated at the BBC and as the host of Match of the Day. Sign it here.
Richard Ayre, former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, said the broadcaster's reputation is "bigger and more important" than any individual, including Gary Lineker.
Mr Ayre told BBC Breakfast on Saturday that there will be "real street-to-street fighting" between political parties in the lead-up to the general election.
"The BBC, in this time of all times, has to tread as straight a line as it can between the parties and avoid taking sides in its own output, and the BBC believes it also has to ensure that those key people who are identified as the BBC in the public mind also walk a straight line in what they say on their private social network," he said.
On Lineker stepping back from presenting Match Of The Day, Mr Ayre continued: "It's a sad occasion for viewers, for anybody who's interested in football, it will be very sad if they can't reconcile with Gary.
"He is superlative, he is absolutely extraordinarily good, not just as a football pundit, of course, but I think, in my 50 or so years of association with the BBC, I've never come across such a naturally gifted television presenter.
"He's terrific and it will be very sad if he goes, but frankly the BBC and its reputation is bigger and more important than any individual, even Gary."
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