Gary Lineker says he is bewildered by ‘disproportionate’ response to tweet

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Gary Lineker said he is still “bewildered” by the “disproportionate” response to his tweet earlier this month which resulted in him being briefly taken off air as host of the BBC’s Match Of The Day. Lineker said: “We had a discussion, and I said to Tim there are two things I’ll continue to talk up on, I will not back down, and he agreed, one of them was about the refugee crisis and the other was about climate change.” He then added “obviously” theses issues include political ideas as he asked people to have empathy for refugees fleeing persecution. On the walkout which involved former footballers Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, Lineker said: “I must admit, I had a tear in my eye… It just moved me, it was beautiful.” He also said: “When it first happened… it’s one thing saying that in a moment, but then actually to carry that through, they didn’t need to do that.” In early March, Lineker tweeted about a Home Office video – in which Home Secretary Suella Braverman unveiled the Government’s plans to stop migrants crossing the Channel on small boats and said the UK is being “overwhelmed” – saying: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful”. Lineker also said that when he woke up in the morning after sending the tweet he had more than 230 WhatsApp messages, and thought: “Oh my god, what’s happened?” He added: “I had really worried thoughts for a few seconds because I couldn’t think of what it could possibly be, and I thought either some kind of scandal or something happened to one of my kids.” Lineker said he “didn’t mind” and was not “bothered” by the response to his Twitter comments and added: “It just kind of spiralled out of control.” The Rest Is Politics is presented by former Tory MP Rory Stewart and former Labour communications chief Alastair Campbell, and is produced by production company Goalhanger Podcasts, in which Lineker owns shares.