Richard Madeley slams ‘preposterous’ calls to sack or silence Gary Lineker over Nazi Germany comments

Richard Madeley appeared on Question Time during which Gary Lineker was discussed (Picture: BBC)

Richard Madeley has leapt to the defense of Gary Lineker and free speech following his tweet that compared the government to Nazi Germany.

The Match of The Day host slammed the Home Office after its controversial policy to stop illegal boats carrying migrants from reaching the UK.

The 62-year-old wrote: ‘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 comments have been at the centre of a national debate, with Lineker later describing the backlash as a ‘ridiculously out of proportion story.’

However, it doesn’t appear the chatter is going to die down anytime soon with Lineker, who reportedly won’t face any disciplinary action from the BBC, discussed on Thursday’s Question Time.

The former Good Morning Britain presenter, 66, was on the panel of the show helmed by Fiona Bruce, alongside the likes of immigration minister Robert Jenrick.

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Lineker was appalled by the government’s new immigration policy (Picture: Getty Images)

Bruce, 58, asked the guests if Lineker should be ‘given the red card’ by the Line of Duty broadcaster over his social media account.

The former Richard & Judy broadcaster responded with a firm ‘no’, adding he held this opinion despite having been slammed by Lineker before on Twitter.

Last year, Lineker slammed Madeley’s interview with a Just Stop Oil campaigner as ‘sickening.’

Lineker has stood by his tweet in response to the Home Office (Picture: PA)

Madeley explained that Lineker’s stance on the policy was an example of ‘free speech.’

He continued: ‘Clearly if he was a political journalist, political presenter or interview in any of the areas of the BBC that we’re talking about, like Newsnight, then clearly he shouldn’t have made those comments.

‘Those comments would be a dereliction of duty and deeply compromising to his programme, to himself, future interviews and of course to the BBC which is publicly funded by us.

Madeley said Lineker was entitled to make those comments because of ‘free speech’ (Picture: BBC)

‘But he’s a sports presenter; he talks about football and games and tactics, and headers and corners and referees and league tables and all the rest of it.

‘And quite how having [not having the right to have] the freedom of speech on – not even on any of his programmes – but on his Twitter page, to say anything he likes within in the law, escapes me.’

The GMB presenter went on to describe calls to ‘muzz and muffle’ Lineker as ‘preposterous’, adding: ‘It’s ridiculous to suggest that he should be sacked.’

Lineker is a freelance presenter for the BBC (Picture: BBC)

However, Madeley did label the comments as ‘stupid’, saying the parallel between the Nazi regime and ‘the Conservative government or any other government in Europe’ was offensive.

‘It’s an insult to the minorities and the Jewish nation who were subject to acts of genocide by the then German dictatorship,’ he said.

It comes after Lineker confirmed he would be making his MOTD return on Saturday, while MPs will debate the Illegal Migration Bill on Monday.

If approved by Parliament, anyone who crosses the Channel in a small boat would be barred from ever re-entering the UK and would only be eligible for asylum in a ‘safe’ third country, such as Rwanda.

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Powers would be granted to detain migrants for 28 days without recourse for bail or judicial review, and then indefinitely for as long as there is a ‘reasonable prospect’ of removal.

Question Time is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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