All it took was one gentle tweet from Gary Lineker to have the government’s attack dogs out in force. The usual lines were dutifully regurgitated. While immigration minister Robert Jenrick called for Lineker to “be shown a red card”, Tory Party deputy chair Lee Anderson went after the BBC. He tweeted: “You would think the Beeb is the official opposition in this country”.
Despite evidence of the questionable cosiness between the Tory Party and the upper reaches of the BBC, this was a none-too-subtle warning to the corporation: pull your punches or charter renewal will be back on