Gary Lineker cannot attack Tory politicians under new rules

New social media guidelines for BBC staff will allow stars such as Gary Lineker to tweet their personal views about government policies – but will ban attacks on a political party or politicians.

High-profile presenters should be allowed to express their views but must stop short of political campaigning, a BBC report published today said.

The guidelines come from an independent review commissioned by former ITN boss John Hardie following a row over the Match of the Day presenter’s comments on Twitter.

Under the new guidelines, “high-profile presenters outside of journalism should be able to express views on issues and policies,” Mr Hardie stated.

He added that this includes “matters of political contention” but must “stop well short of campaigning in party politics or for activist organisations”.

The updated guidance features particular mention of “flagship programmes”, with presenters of these shows prohibited from endorsing or attack political parties, criticising the character of individual politicians in the UK, commenting on any issue that is a matter of political debate during the election period for UK general elections and referendums in any part of the UK and taking up an official role or fundraising in campaigning groups.

Lineker reacted to the guidelines as “all very sensible” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.

Ahead of the publication of the new rules, the presenter had shared a series of tweets reacting to the Home Secretary’s latest comments on asylum seekers.

In response to her claims that “people purport to be gay when they’re not actually gay” in order to be granted asylum, Lineker said: “How could you possibly know if they are gay or they are not gay?”

He also reposted a tweet from ITV News UK editor Paul Brand which stated: “1.5 per cent of asylum claims last year referenced sexuality.

“If every single one of them was bogus and you refused them all, you’d still have to explain the backlog with the other 98.5 per cent of asylum claims.”

Earlier this year, Lineker’s tweet comparing the government’s asylum policy to Nazi Germany sparked a free-speech and impartiality row.

Responding to the Home Secretary’s plans to stop small boat crossings, Lineker tweeted at the time: “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?”

This story is being updated.