Gary Lineker post about Grant Shapps appears to breach BBC guidelines, says chairman candidate Samir Shah
Gary Lineker’s social media post about Defence Secretary Grant Shapps appears to breach BBC guidelines, the government’s candidate to be the corporation’s next chairman has said.
Speaking to MPs at a pre-appointment hearing, Samir Shah said the corporation “needs to find a solution” to arguments over impartiality – as he called the ongoing row between Lineker and the BBC a “psychodrama”.
The former footballer had posted photos of the politician along with different names he has been accused of using in the past.
Mr Shah also said he did not think it was “helpful” the presenter had signed a letter calling for the end of the government’s Rwanda scheme.
Samir Shah speaking to MPs this morning Pic: Parliament Live TV
He said: “I don’t think it was very helpful either for Gary Lineker or the BBC or the cause he supports because it becomes a story about Gary Linker and the BBC.
“As far as I’m aware, the signing of the letter did not breach those guidelines.
“But the more recent tweet in which he identifies a politician does, on the face of it, seem to breach those guidelines.
“I’m not sure how egregious it is but I imagine the BBC is looking into it and considering its response.”
Asked what he would do in the situation if he was chairman of the BBC, Samir Shah said: “I think it’s our duty to monitor and see how well guidelines are delivering their purpose.”
He added he would invite the director-general to “interrogate quite forcibly” if the social media guidelines were delivering what they intend to do.
“I do think we need to find a solution to this because it doesn’t help anyone and it does damage the reputation of the BBC if we are constantly in this round, not just with this particular presenter or not,” he added.
“The BBC’s reputation matters and this isn’t helpful and we do need to find a solution to it and if I were to be chair I would be keen to bring about a solution.”
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
The former England footballer recently hit back at Mr Shapps after he questioned whether the Match Of The Day host should express political views.
Lineker was among a group of celebrities to sign a letter calling for the government to scrap its Rwanda scheme and for political leaders to come up with a “fair new plan for refugees”.
Read more:
Still ‘credible’ for Rwanda flights to take off in spring
First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford resigns
James Bulger killer has parole bid rejected
After Mr Shapps said Lineker should stick to football and stop “meddling” in other matters, Lineker posted a photograph of the politician with his name under it alongside three more images of the politician with the names Michael Green, Corinne Stockheath and Sebastian Fox used instead.
Lineker wrote: “A tad rich coming from someone who can’t even stick to one name. 4 chaps Shapps.”
Mr Shapps was previously accused of breaching the code of conduct for ministers and MPs by continuing to work as a marketer of get-rich-quick schemes under the pseudonym Michael Green after entering parliament.
He has also been accused of using the pseudonyms Sebastian Fox and Corinne Stockheath.
Lineker has also criticised Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis, who accused the TV presenter of breaching the BBC’s impartiality rules.
He wrote on social media: “Jonathan hasn’t read the new guidelines… or, should I say, had someone read them to him?”
A previous Twitter scandal involving Lineker led to the BBC strengthening social media guidelines for staff on issues of impartiality and civility.
Read more:
Lineker’s most controversial posts, from Rwanda to Brexit to Russian donors
At the hearing of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, Mr Shah also said political broadcaster Andrew Neil suggested he apply for the role, adding that they were old friends.
He also said he had not discussed his application with anyone in government but people had told him he was “mad” to apply, largely because of the controversies surrounding his predecessor, Richard Sharp.
Mr Sharp resigned after failing to declare his connection to an £800,000 loan made to former prime minister Boris Johnson.
Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.
The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.
Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.
Taylor Swift and boyfriend Travis Kelce on the New Heights podcast. Pic: New Heights
The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.
It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.
The full track list is:
1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)
Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.
Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.
The cover of Taylor Swift’s newly announced album. Pic: Republic Records
The back cover of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album The Life Of A Showgirl. Pic: Republic Records
‘The hardest-working star in pop’
The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.
That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Read more about Taylor Swift:
Swift’s final London show was the ‘best’
The impact of the ‘excruciating’ Era’s tour
Her new chart record
“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.
A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.
Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.
The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.
Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.
He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.
Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.
Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.
Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.
Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike