Kirstie Allsopp, 51, is known for her controversial opinions and this evening was no different. As Match of the Day’s fate is up in arms, Kirstie took to Twitter to tell the BBC to stop worrying about the Gary Lineker debate, but instead focus on being a “very precious global resource”.
Kirstie used the opportunity to speak about the BBC and their wider impact on society, not seeming to be in support of Lineker.
She wrote in view of her 434,900 Twitter followers: “The health of much of the Western world is being destroyed by processed food manufacturers who’ve made billions in the process, now the pharmaceutical industry is going to make a fortune out of obesity medicine.
“Yet as our media outlets need ads to survive we ignore this…..
“But we have a unique organisation that doesn’t need ads to survive *The BBC* it’s an amazing & very precious global resource.
“It shouldn’t be getting its knickers in a twist over Gary Lineker, it has so much work to do standing up for all of us against vested interests.” (sic)
Kirstie’s comment was met with criticism as many social media users sided with Gary over the BBC.
Rowbottom_ian said: “What sort of precedent does this set, Kirstie? A worrying one, I think.
“There will be hundreds of presenters (possibly yourself included) deleting tweets which apparently break some impartiality rule, just for being opinionated.”
Jdestael added: “The problem isn’t Gary or anyone else- it’s Richard Sharp.
“The fact the top boss can’t step in and provide reassurance/restore credibility is because he himself isn’t impartial.”
The row was sparked by Gary’s response on Twitter to a Home Office video in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the government’s plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats.
He wrote about the video, in view of his 8.7 million followers: “There is no huge influx.
“We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in a language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the ’30s.”
Match of the Day confirmed that Saturday’s show would still be going ahead without Gary but with no presenter or pundits.
This is because Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and BBC presenters such as Jermaine Jenas and Alex Scott said they would not be appearing on the show due to the BBC’s response.
The disruption forced the BBC to apologise for “limited sports programming this weekend”, with Director General Tim Davie facing calls to resign.
The BBC boss admitted in a new interview it had been a “difficult day” for the corporation but said, “we are working very hard to resolve the situation”.
Interviewed by BBC News, Mr Davie said “success for me is getting Gary back on air”, adding he was prepared to review impartiality rules for freelance staff like Lineker.
His suspension on Friday triggered a wider debate about BBC’s impartiality, the government’s asylum policy and the position of the broadcaster’s chairman Richard Sharp.
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