No more 'Mr Nice Guy': Gary Lineker has made his feelings clear - when will the media wake up?

14 May 2025, 13:10

A culture of dehumanisation primes people into losing their inhibitions and performing acts of great cruelty.

For example, Hutu government media bestialised Tutsis as 'cockroaches', inciting the Rwanda genocide where about one million people were killed in 100 days.

Media in Nazi Germany represented Jews as rats in their propaganda, from posters to films. Depicting Jews as racially inferior 'subhumans' allowed them to gain the enthusiastic cooperation of the public in rounding up Jews and a policy of genocide on an unprecedented scale.

So when state media becomes partisan and hostile towards a group, alarm bells ring because of their influence and power to incite hate.

Unfortunately, too many people hired by British state media have been caught displaying such views, such as a senior BBC employee who called Jews' parasites', a BBC freelance journalist who described Jews as 'devils' and another who posted 'We'll burn Jews like Hitler did'. Posting 'Hitler Was Right' is apparently not a barrier to gaining employment at the BBC as a digital journalist.

The BBC's core mission of impartiality, quality and education is being damaged by this doctrine — Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone had to be pulled because it failed basic journalistic standards until it effectively became a Hamas propaganda exercise. The BBC seem unable to even call Hamas terrorists.

But now the BBC's highest paid presenter has shared a post with a prominent rat image to 'explain' Zionism — the concept of Jews having a nation state. Following criticism, it was deleted, but in place of an apology was a statement by his agent claiming 'Gary did not notice' the hideous racism he shared.

Gary Lineker not only enjoys the authority of being the most prominent face of the BBC, but he shared this with his 1.2 million Instagram followers. It's not his first problematic post but 'national treasures' are inoculated from criticism by the image they have constructed. Lineker is 'Mr Nice Guy,' a former football star who never even got a yellow card. He speaks out against racism, so those speaking out against him run the risk of being ostracised.

To further his political point of view about unfair immigration policy, Gary Lineker used inappropriate comparisons with Germany in the 30's, but now he has accurately demonstrated how propaganda from that era became socially acceptable.

There should be no exceptions for racism, but don't hold your breath. The BBC was accused of gaslighting 200 Jewish staff over the handling of detailed antisemitism complaints. The group called for an investigation over a 'serious institutional racism problem' which BBC chair Samir Shah refused, while BBC Director-General Tim Davie has repeatedly rejected offers of training on anti-Jewish racism.

A significant amount of the license fee goes towards Mr Lineker's wage bill, and the prestige of the BBC must not be used to launder hate any longer. Labour Against Antisemitism have now written to the BBC asking for action to be taken. No more 'Mr Nice Guy.'

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Alex Hearn is the Director of Labour Against Antisemitism.

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