Gary Lineker row: BBC impartiality dominates Prime Minister's Questions

Labour person Sir Keir Starmer has suggested BBC impartiality has been enactment astatine hazard by Conservative MPs "waging warfare connected escaped speech" successful the Gary Lineker enactment and BBC bosses who "cave" successful to them.

Sir Keir pressed Rishi Sunak astir governmental interference successful the BBC astatine Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Sunak accused the absorption person of jumping connected a "political bandwagon".

Lineker was taken disconnected aerial implicit a tweet criticising the government's caller asylum policy, but volition instrumentality this weekend.

The BBC's manager wide has ordered a reappraisal into stars' societal media use, and denied being influenced by governmental pressure.

In the House of Commons connected Wednesday, Sir Keir said the premier curate had antecedently said helium "wanted to support escaped code and enactment a halt to nary platforming".

But pursuing Lineker's post, Conservative MPs had been "howling with rage implicit a tweet, signing letters successful their dozens, desperately trying to cancel a shot highlights show", helium claimed.

The Labour person asked: "Why doesn't helium instrumentality immoderate work [and] basal up to his snowflake MPs waging warfare connected escaped speech?"

In response, the premier curate said: "Just the accustomed governmental opportunism from the person of the Labour Party."

Noting that 2 members of the shadiness furniture had criticised the connection Lineker utilized successful his tweet, Mr Sunak added: "But what a astonishment helium saw the accidental to leap connected a governmental bandwagon and changed his mind."

The Match of the Day big sparked contention by describing the government's plans to prohibition radical arriving successful the UK illegally from ever claiming asylum arsenic an "immeasurably cruel argumentation directed astatine the astir susceptible radical successful connection that is not dissimilar to that utilized by Germany successful the 30s".

Sir Keir asked whether Mr Sunak had received assurances that no-one with links to the Conservative Party had been "involved successful the determination that saw Match of the Day efficaciously cancelled".

Mr Sunak replied: "These are matters for the BBC to resoluteness and it's close that the BBC, arsenic an important institution, takes its obligations to impartiality seriously."

In a rowdy Commons, Sir Keir claimed Mr Sunak had "kept quiescent and hid down the playground bullies portion they tried to thrust idiosyncratic retired simply for disagreeing with them".

He continued: "An impartial nationalist broadcaster escaped of authorities interference is simply a important pillar successful our country, but isn't that enactment astatine hazard by the cancel civilization addicts connected his benches, a BBC enactment that caves into their demands, and a premier curate excessively anemic to bash thing astir them?"

Mr Sunak said that helium would not "take immoderate lectures connected cancel culture" from Labour, and "the substance of what's happened" was that Sir Keir's enactment was "siding with radical smugglers implicit the British people" by voting against the caller asylum law.

On Monday, BBC manager wide Tim Davie said his decisions astir the Lineker matter were "not affected by unit from 1 enactment oregon the other", adding: "That is not however we enactment editorially successful the BBC. It's a convenient narrative. It's not true."

Sir Keir besides linked the contented of BBC impartiality with the presumption of its president Richard Sharp, a erstwhile Conservative donor and erstwhile Mr Sunak's brag astatine an concern bank, who has travel nether beardown pressure implicit his engagement successful the facilitation of an £800,000 indebtedness warrant for erstwhile PM Boris Johnson.

A KC-led reappraisal into Mr Sharp's assignment is investigating whether helium failed to decently disclose details of his involvement.

"Does the premier curate deliberation that his friend's presumption is inactive tenable?" Sir Keir asked.

Mr Sunak insisted the reappraisal process was "independent", adding: "Instead of pre-judging, and pre-empting that reappraisal we should fto it reason and hold for the outcome."

The BBC is conducting its ain interior reappraisal implicit immoderate imaginable conflicts of interest.