THE BBC backtracked today in its stand-off with Gary Lineker, reversing the former football great’s suspension from the airwaves for a tweet that slammed the Tories’ new migration policy.

The cave-in followed a weekend of chaos and crisis for the publicly funded national broadcaster, which faced a huge backlash after sidelining its top sports host for expressing his view on the government’s small-boats policy and the twisted rhetoric of its purveyors.

The BBC has a big weekend of football coming up, featuring men’s and women’s FA Cup quarter-finals. Director general Tim Davie said:
“Gary is a valued part of the BBC and I know how much the BBC means to Gary, and I look forward to him presenting our coverage this coming weekend.”

Lineker said he was “glad that we have found a way forward.”

The former Leicester, Spurs and Everton striker is one of English football’s most lauded players — he won the golden boot at the 1986 World Cup and was instrumental in England’s run to the 1990 semi-final — and the corporation’s highest-paid presenter.

He was suspended on Friday after he described the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”

The government called Lineker’s comparison offensive and unacceptable, and some Tory right-wingers said the BBC should end his contract. The broadcaster said on Friday that Lineker would be “stepping back” until he agreed to keep his tweets within BBC impartiality rules.

But critics accused it of suppressing free speech, and the BBC was forced to scrap much of its weekend sports programming after commentators, analysts and Premier League players refused to appear as a show of support for Lineker — football greats and TV regulars Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Alex Scott and many more expressed their solidarity.

Match of the Day was reduced from the usual 90 minutes of highlights and analysis to a 20-minute compilation of clips from the day’s games, without commentary or punditry. Other TV and radio football shows were pulled from the schedule on Saturday and Sunday as the boycott spread.

Davie insisted today that the BBC “did the right thing” by suspending Lineker but there would now be an independent review of the BBC’s social media rules to address “grey areas” in the guidelines.

“Between now and when the review reports, Gary will abide by the editorial guidelines,” he said.

Lineker said it had been “a surreal few days” and thanked colleagues for their support.

“A final thought: however difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away,” he tweeted. 

“It’s heartwarming to have seen the empathy towards their plight from so many of you.”

Davie is a former Conservative local government candidate, while BBC chairman Richard Sharp is a Conservative Party donor who helped arrange a loan for then prime minister Boris Johnson in 2021, weeks before Sharp was appointed to the BBC post on the government’s recommendation.

While failing to speak up for the treatment of refugees and against the Tories’ stirring-up of hatred, Labour culture & media spokeswoman Lucy Powell said today that the Conservatives “have long wanted to undermine the BBC.”

“As well as a review of the BBC’s social media guidelines, this saga should prompt the government to examine how it protects and promotes a truly independent and impartial BBC,” she said.