By Bryn Griffiths

On Christmas Eve in 2021 I ended 36 years’ service in local government, so I know a bit about the principles involved in the political restriction of people in public roles. 

For decades I was subject to a clause in the Local Government Act 1988 that politically restricted my role.  In short, not only was I prevented from standing in elections but I could never speak in a manner that had the apparent intention of affecting the support for a political party. My contract prevented me from publishing written or artistic work if it was intended to affect public support for a political party, for example, by displaying a poster on private property.

My politics led me to the public sector and I valued my role but I hated every single moment of my political restriction. As part of my politically restricted role, I advised Labour politicians, I prepared Ken Livingstone’s first Annual report at the Greater London Authority, I advised councillors scrutinising the ultra-Blairite Robin Wales one of the first elected Executive Mayors, I advised a Labour-Liberal coalition and in the latter part of my career I had the misfortune to work for a council where the public regularly elected a majority of Tory councillors! 

How on earth could I accept what in effect was a political gagging order? Well, it was because I thought the law on this occasion was not an ass. Throughout my career I rarely shared the politics of the councillors who led the councils I worked for, so how could I advise them during the day and go home and attack them in the evening? I had chosen to work in public sector roles which involved me giving professional advice to politicians so part of the contract was that I had to keep my own counsel.

The alternative would be to adopt the US model where political changes of administration are followed by a political clear-out of senior public servants. On balance I favoured our system not least because if close political alignment with local government politicians was a necessity, I doubt I would ever have got a single job in local government. Which leads me nicely to Gary Lineker.

What on earth has the need for political restriction and neutrality got to do with Gary Lineker?  I can see that my professional role in local government would have been compromised if I had attacked the party of the politicians I had to advise, but what conceivable impact could Gary’s views on the offensively labelled Illegal Migration Bill have on his football punditry?    If Gary’s support for Leicester City or Tottenham Hotspur prevented him from being Britain’s most effective and loved football pundit there might be a problem, but how an earth does his views on refugees compromise his role? 

It does not surprise me that a football pundit would hold Gary’s views as he works in one of the most diverse sectors in Britain as far as the players go.  If it was not for the positive impact of immigration our England men’s team would be decimated and be a shadow of the team that we have. It is no coincidence that Gareth Southgate’s England prominently supported taking the knee as a response to Black Lives Matter and the murder of George Floyd.   

It is to Gary Lineker’s credit that as a white man he used his privilege to step up to the plate and voice his objection to such a racist and discriminatory piece of legislation. It was wonderful to see the likes of Ian Wright, Micah Richards and according to the BBC, Max Chapman, refusing to appear on the show without our Gary.  Alex Scott went the extra mile and used a GIF from Bernie Sanders to loudly announce she was backing Gary.

Some people have suggested that Gary’s comments on Twitter have been inflammatory and brought the BBC into disrepute, so let us look at what he actually said.  He described the Tories racist Bill as “beyond awful.”  Gary went on to tweet on 7th March 2023 that:

“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 language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”

The above Tweet led the Daily Mail on 8th March 2023 to editorialise against what it called “Lineker’s foul tirade”.  The Daily Mail editorial went on to say: ‘By equating Tory immigration plans with Nazi Germany – one of history’s most evil regimes – he showed a level of ignorance that was both staggering and offensive.”  But Gary didn’t go that far – he likened the “language”to that used by Germany in the ‘30s and no, Gary, you’re not out of order. 

Unfortunately, when our Labour front bench first entered the fray, they shared the Daily Mail’s misplaced assessment of what the People’s Gary had to say.  When asked on LBC whether Gary should get the red card Yvette Cooper could only say, “I think that’s a matter for the BBC”, while chuckling nervously. The usually sure-footed media performer Emily Thornberry on Sky TV described Gary’s comments as “unfortunate” and she went on to say, “he went too far”. The problem with Thornberry’s comments is that she seems to be attacking him for comparing the Tories to the Nazis when he didn’t actually say that. 

Anyway, back to political neutrality – our agreement with Gary is not the point. The point is: should a BBC employee be able to say such things? Well, that depends on the role.  If Gary was a senior BBC political correspondent it would be crucial, like it was for me in my recently ended local government career, to protect his integrity zealously as a neutral voice. However, the principle cannot and should not apply to a football pundit. 

At this point the BBC’s hypocrisy as a public service broadcaster comes sailing right into view.  The principle of political neutrality and political restriction should not apply to football pundits but it must of course apply to senior political commentators such as Andrew Neil who fronted the BBC’s flagship political programmes for a quarter of a century.  Owen Jones took to You Tube on 11th March 2023 to take on the BBC’s hypocrisy regarding Andrew Neil, the Chair of the notoriously right wing Spectator, and it is well worth a listen  But Gary isn’t a political commentator: he’s a football pundit!

So, back again to the question of how should the BBC have dealt with Gary?  Mark Sweeney, the media business correspondent at the Guardian, misread the story and indulged in some tortured hand wringing in his article “Gary Lineker faces a dilemma: toe the BBC line or be a social media influencer”.  Hesaid: “Lineker’s politically loaded tweets about the government’s new asylum policy – followed by a pledge to stand by his comments – had left the BBC in an almost impossible position, balancing impartiality with freedom of expression by its staff.” You can read Sweeney’s full article here.

There is no tortured Guardian balancing act to be undertaken here. What is required is a crystal-clear distinction between BBC roles, such as political commentators, where political impartiality is absolutely essential and roles, such as a football pundit, where employees should be free to voice their views. 

I will leave the final words to the BBC itself. In 2016 Gary took to Twitter to say: “The Treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What’s happening to this country?” The Daily Mirror  in 2016 reported that a BBC spokesperson had simply said, “Gary is a freelance broadcaster and this is a personal twitter account.” 

In 2016 the BBC were absolutely right to believe that what Gary said on his personal twitter account was his own business, but in stark contrast they are so wrong in 2023 to cave into what is beginning to look like a McCarthyite witch hunt of those of us who wish to stand up for refugees. We must stand with Gary Lineker and the Match of the Day pundits.

Bryn Griffiths is on the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy Executive, he is the Chair of Colchester Labour Party and an activist in North Essex Momentum but the views he expresses above are entirely his own.  Bryn has written for Labour Hub before on migrants’ rights and you can find his article here He retired after decades in politically restricted local government roles in December 2021 and you can watch the story of his time in local government delivered on the day his political restriction was lifted here   

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamescridland/863884480 Author: James Cridland. Creator: Picasa 2.7 Licence: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)