Gary Lineker tweet a technical breach, ex-BBC head says

An ex-BBC caput has said Gary Lineker's tweet that criticised the government's connection implicit its caller asylum argumentation appeared to beryllium a "technical breach" of impartiality rules.

Mark Thompson told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the star's presumption arsenic a sports presenter meant the enactment had entered a "grey area".

The BBC indispensable "strike the balance" erstwhile enforcing the rules, helium added.

It comes amid uncertainly implicit whether Lineker volition instrumentality to the BBC.

In the Sunday Mirror, Lineker's son, George, is quoted arsenic saying helium thought his begetter would instrumentality to presenting Match of the Day, and manager wide Tim Davie said connected Saturday his extremity was to get "Gary backmost connected air".

Mr Thompson - who served arsenic BBC manager wide betwixt 2004 and 2012 - observed that portion rules astir expressing governmental opinions were wide for those moving successful the BBC's quality division, they were importantly much analyzable for freelancers and those moving successful sport.

"I deliberation what the BBC has walked into is the 21st Century," Mr Thompson told the programme. "New behaviours, caller nationalist attitudes, caller understandable attitudes from individuals - for illustration a freelancer similar Gary Lineker - truthful determination is simply a request to deliberation cautiously astir wherever to onslaught the balance."

And helium urged the BBC "to calm down, disregard the papers" and to illustration a people guardant for some the organisation and Lineker.

Peter Salmon, who was the corporation's caput of athletics nether Mr Thompson, said the BBC's impartiality guidelines were "opaque" and urged bosses to "get this sorted out".

Meanwhile, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who earlier said helium "profoundly" disagreed with Lineker's tweet - told the programme that helium thought "making definite the BBC maintains its estimation for independency and impartiality is the result that matters most".

And helium defended the close of immoderate of his colleagues successful the Conservative Party to criticise the presenter, telling the programme that the UK is simply a "robust democracy, and if idiosyncratic says thing you disagree with MPs bash what they cant bash successful Russia oregon China, they talk up".