Lineker’s attack on UK migrant policy puts BBC in a bind

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Conservative lawmakers in the U.K. are calling on the BBC to discipline soccer pundit Gary Lineker for comparing the government’s language about migrants to that used in Nazi Germany. In a tweet on Tuesday, the former England team captain described the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants arriving by boat as “immeasurably cruel” and its language “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.” The Conservative government called Lineker’s Nazi comparison inappropriate and unacceptable, and the BBC said Lineker would be “reminded of his responsibilities.” It’s the latest controversy to hit Lineker, who has long irked right-wingers with his liberal views.