Editorial: Gary Lineker should not be allowed to return to Match of the Day as if the row over his highly political comments did not happen

There is at times, for example, subtle bias against unionism in the Northern Ireland coverage.

At the same time though the BBC has since before World War II been an outstanding broadcaster that is known and admired globally. It is also one of the few institutions that has UK-wide resonance, and so it helps bind the Union together.

Despite this, the broadcaster must not let Gary Lineker return to Match of the Day (MOTD) next coming weekend as if little has happened. Lineker is in some respects a modest and likable personality, who has made an easy transition from top flight football to punditry. He is paid well over a million pounds for hosting MOTD. For years he has been outspoken politically on the social media platform Twitter, particularly since the 2016 Brexit vote, about which he was scathing. This partisanship has been a problem for years, but he overstepped the mark completely with his comparison of UK government policy for policing migrant boats in the Channel with 1930s Germany. This contemptible analogy suggests he knows nothing about the precursor to the Nazi genocide. The BBC would not let a football host who, for example, had sceptical views on immigration speak out so freely for years.

There has been much Jesuitical hair splitting over whether or not Lineker breach BBC guidelines on social media, given that he does not have a contract with them. But if he wants to earn mammoth sums with the BBC it should draw up a new deal barring him from partisan political outbursts. If he won’t do that then find someone who will, even if that takes months and involves a MOTD that, like on Saturday past, is devoid of commentary.