A FORMER senior BBC staffer says the Corporation has been left with a number of issues to address over its handling of the Gary Lineker row.
Aqill Ahmed, who was head of religion and ethics at the BBC, told GB News the fact the ex-England player was a freelancer is a significant issue and is one which the Beeb may have overlooked.
Speaking to GB News Breakfast about the decision to ask Lineker to step back from tonight’s Match of the Day, Mr Ahmed said: “I think they’ve made a difficult decision, whether it’s the right thing or not only they can tell you. But a lot of people disagree with what they’ve suggested simply because many people would point to the hypocrisy of that particular decision.
“And they’d also point to the fact that Gary is a sports presenter. His views are pretty well known anyway, regards to this and many other particular kinds of subjects. He’s not a news and current affairs presenter. And, you know, we need to ask is he entitled to have an opinion as a freelance employee, not a full time employee? Can the BBC, or any employer, really police somebody who has a job which is actually only a part time job?
“He’s a freelancer. And so this opens up a whole load of issues, I can understand the BBC wanting to get to the bottom of it. My question would only be actually, you know, did they really understand the makeup of how people operate these days.”
Dismissing claims that Lineker was effectively a BBC-staffer he continued: “Gary has a portfolio career. He has a number of employers. And so can the BBC really impose its particular perspective on social media policy on somebody who is a freelancer, as opposed to somebody who is a full time worker?
“So I actually think there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered. And I think what it does is show you that the nature of how we work has changed radically.
“He really is a freelancer, and a lot of freelancers work for many different organisations. If he was a full time member of staff at the BBC, I think that would be a completely different conversation.”
He added: “It’s complicated because of the nature of his contract. And the fact that he’s not actually a news and current affairs presenter. And I think we’ve lost sight of that.”
