Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley MP criticised over Tweets says Gary Lineker has ‘absolute right’ to political view

An MP and council leader repeatedly criticised for his views on social media says Gary Lineker has an “absolute right” to air his opinions on politics – but not while working for the BBC.

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Conservative leader Ben Bradley spoke after the Match of the Day presenter divided opinion with a series of Tweets about the Government’s new Illegal Migration Bill.

It followed a video, posted by the Home Office on Tuesday (March 7), in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “This Bill will mean that, if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay.

“You will be detained and removed to your home country, if safe, or a safe third country like Rwanda.”

She added: “It’s not fair that people who travel through a string of safe countries and then come to the UK illegally can jump the queue and game our system.

“This Bill will bring an end to that. Enough is enough, we must stop the boats.”

In a string of Tweets, Lineker likened Ms Braverman’s comments to “that used by Germany in the 30s”.

His comments received both condemnation and support online and from MPs. The importance of the impartiality of the BBC has long been a topic of debate because it is publicly-funded by the licence fee.

The corporation has clear polticial impartiality rules for staff employed in news but its regulations around people working in other capacities such as sport are often described as less clear-cut.

Ms Braverman herself called Mr Lineker’s comments “lazy and unhelpful”.

Calls were later made for the Match of the Day presenter to be removed from the flagship football show.

The BBC said it had a “frank conversation” with the former England striker following the tweets.