Articles

Celtic Stood Firm Against Criticism From The Right. The BBC Should Stand By Their Man.

|
Image for Celtic Stood Firm Against Criticism From The Right. The BBC Should Stand By Their Man.

Some years ago in Britain, the right started waging its culture war in earnest.

My friends and I have debated this matter time and time again.

A good friend of mine blames the left for starting it, whereas I wholeheartedly blame the likes of Farage and Johnson. Whoever it was who kicked it off, the right have fought it with relish and are largely ascendant.

They turn their guns on everyone who even questions their appalling world view.

The latest person to find his or herself in the gunsights of these deplorable people is Gary Lineker for daring to suggest that the hateful language used by this government to talk about immigrants has echoes of that which Hitler was using in the early 30’s.

It barely needs pointing out that this is essentially correct.

So for telling the truth this man has been subjected to abysmal personal attacks and those on the right are demanding that the BBC sack him. They announced that they would be “having a word” with him. Unless what they say amounts to a promise to have his back they would be acting like base cowards.

The BBC should be willing to stand up for its people, especially when all they’ve done is tell the truth.

Here in Scotland they threw Michael Stewart to the wolves when The Peepul went bonkers over his comments about the clownish Jim Traynor, and was seen to be attacking their club, and they basically issued a grovelling apology to Ibrox over the Chris McLaughlin saga even though they were entirely in the right and backed down … so we know that the national broadcaster is hardly made of strong stuff up here. In England they simply must show more balls and hold firm.

The right does not have a monopoly on outrage and it is possible to stand up to these people and win.

Lineker is right to be angry at the shocking way the government has attempted to frame the debate over immigration. Our country, which preaches the rule of law and about western values when it contrasts itself with Russia has effectively closed its doors to people fleeing war and disaster (some of which we helped create) and may be in violation of international treaties.

So he’s right to be pissed and he’s right to express it.

But the mad-dogs are coming for him as though he had said something beyond the pale. He continues to stand by his comments and the BBC must too. It must respect his right to free expression, especially when what he has said is essentially true. And it must prove that these people can be successfully resisted.

And they can, and we know it better than anyone because for a period of time last year, after the death of the Queen, they were turning their guns on our club for a list of perceived slights against the monarchy and their pretend version of values.

Our club even – shock horror! – refused to condemn its own fans because they expressed a view these cretins did not like. All the while they talked about the things “this country stands for.”

Freedom of expression clearly isn’t one of them.

Not when it conflicts with what they believe or what they want to hear. These people have browbeat so many organisations and individuals down through the years. They clearly thought it would work on Celtic.

We resisted. We gave them nothing.

Our silence radiated our contempt for those vile third rate commentators and gutter politicians whose entire existence is predicated on sewing hatred and division, and whose hypocrisy is not even that well disguised.

We endured. Of course. Because at the end of the day when you stand tall against these people they shriek and point their fat fingers and hop around in outrage, but ultimately have nothing to threaten you with.

They are bullies and they are cowards and the BBC should not give them a damned inch. They should stand by their man, because he deserves it. Because it’s the right thing to today, tomorrow and forever.

And because giving these people any kind of win at all makes them come back for more.

Give them nothing and stop them in their tracks.

Share this article

0 comments

  • S Thomas says:

    I’m not a fan of mass immigration at all… there is food banks galore here and the cost of living is atrocious, but I do back Gary Linekar on this though. His work with refugees is tremendous, and he has refugees living with him. I’ve always admired Gary, I’ve always found him to be a decent human being. He is an excellent sports broadcaster. So I say well done Gary for sticking up for what you believe in.

  • Phil says:

    Lineker is just another in a long line of celebrity champagne ” socialists” trying to assuage his conscience about his lavish lifestyle.how many immigrants will he offer to accommodate in his mansion.zilch precisely!you need a reality dose mr forrest!

    • Peter Cassidy says:

      It’s called free speech was that not all the wars where fought for by everyone .

    • Roonsa says:

      See if you Google the words “Lineker refugees in his house” and do some research before making a tit of yourself then ….. errrr ….. you won’t make a tit of yourself.

  • Pan says:

    We are all Gary Lineker.

  • Johnny Green says:

    The RIGHT, just like the majority of the HUN support are the trailer trash of a dead empire, bitter bullies with no conscience.

    We are all Gary Lineker

  • TonyB says:

    If anyone needs a reality check it’s the morons who vote for the likes of Johnson, Sunak, Braverman and all the rest of the fascists who should be prosected for the harm they have done to ordinary people for their own financial benefit.

    I note that Gary Lineker is being targeted by the huns and all the other right wing nut jobs.

    He is worth more than the lot of them put together.

  • Charlie Kelly says:

    Well Phil maybe check your facts about Gary Lineker.As he presently has Refugees staying in his house,and does a tremendous amount of work for charities,and because you earn large amounts of money should not make you feel guilty or stop you being a Socialist

    • Jim Duffy says:

      Well said Charlie, Phil doesn’t know what he’s talking about,he obviously knows nothing about Gary Lineker.

  • Phil says:

    Is this the same buffoon who earns upwards of 2 million a year for minimal effort in a tv studio on a saturday night as a third rate football pundit?Some folk are easily taken in by his superficial efforts at promoting social awareness.

    • S Thomas says:

      Third rate football pundit lol.. he is one of the best in the uk, along with Chris Sutton, Ally Mccoist, Roy keane, Ian wright, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville. The third rate is the jokers that work in this country. He is a class guy, and a class individual who has done amazing work for charities and refugees. What do you do for refugees and charities Phil ?

  • Scouse bhoy says:

    Salary should be no where near any football show .

  • Jimmy R says:

    Spot on again James.
    It is intersting how few of the usual suspects made reference to the ibrox club’s fans rendition of the billy boys during what was meant to be a minute’s applause for Ron Gordon prior to the LC final at Hampden. Now that it is safely in the past, references are somewhat coy, along the lines of “a section of. . .. or “a small number . . . ” To my ears, watching and listening on Viaplay it was the bulk of the ibrox support.
    I didn’t hold my breath for headlines / comments about morons, disrespectful behaviour etc, which is a bloody good job as they never appeared.

  • TonyB says:

    I see that well known fascist Gregory Campbell of the DUP has been attacking Gary Lineker in the Commons, saying things not dissimilar to what a couple of “peepul” on here are saying.

    Anyone who incurs the wrath of an Orange muppet like Gregory is fine in my book.

    Equally anyone one espousing similar views ought to have a look at themselves.

    As Granda Joe would say ” Catch yourself on”.

  • John Copeland says:

    Sadly ,I think Gary Lineker could be on borrowed time at the BBC ! He is freelance and might not receive much sympathy from the regular Beeb employees . It does make me wonder what kind of punishment would be delivered to someone employed by BBC Sport Scotland,either on its books or freelance if the person had the balls to ask on radio or TV , why our publicly funded national broadcaster supports the myth that the current Clumpany from Ibrox is the very same one as pre liquidation 2012 !

  • Effarr says:

    I’m afraid all this suppression of free speech, much as I would like to blame them, started long before Johnson and Farage came on the scene. Maybe we could blame Gerry Mc Nee (remember him?) for trying to suppress The Fields of Athenry.

  • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

    Wtf are you on James?
    I assumed that with your background in Politics
    that you were au fait with the current disposition with Auntie Beeb.
    It’s a Tory Party Fanzine on air.
    The BBC has for years been in reverse mode on it’s once trusted record for impartiality.
    It is the Unionist & Monarchy mouthpiece.
    It’s current ‘High Heid Yin’ is a Tory Party Placeman.
    The BBC has been dancing to the Tory’s tune since the days of steam wireless.
    They won’t stand up to them because they are shit scared about the Tory Government’s stance on BBC Funding and the threats that that raises for the cosy sinecures of the BBC Board of Governers.
    The only reason they are ‘talking’ to Lineker is because, as I understand it, Lineker is not an employee. He is as is the norm with all the presenters and the ‘Well kent faces’
    self employed on contract to the BBC. They can’t sack him over a freedom of speech issue or they’ll be facing costly litigation.

  • Henriksgoldenboot says:

    Some things for you all to consider. We’re waaaay off the topic of football here so here goes.

    1) The BBC is not a national public broadcaster. It is a government agency. Used for government propaganda. It has never been so clear as in the last number of years during the Brexit debacle and the shameless Convid campaign the this is a government controlled vehicle.

    2) You reap what you sow. The UK’s diabolical international policies along with other western governments have helped create the mass exodus of multinationals heading for this land. A land that is whether you like to admit it or not, is really really struggling to look after it’s own. And this cannot go on.

    3) This, if none of you have woken up to the fact yet, is a government policy to force the digital ID agenda upon us. I suggest you virtue signallers wake up and smell the coffee.

    4) You speak of the left and of the right. Again this is agenda at work here to keep people divided. There is only top and bottom, and these people at the top don’t want any of you from the bottom to be looking up to see what they are getting up to so they’ll keep you from noticing by using pawn’s like Lineker and Hancock etc.

    If we really wanted to help these poor people you would be battering down the doors of your MP’s and MSP’s and fighting to make their conditions better in the countries they are coming from. Too many people howling at the moon!

  • Duncan says:

    Let’s just ignore the fact that Lineker has never once rejected the massive wage he’s been awarded by the BBC for years.
    A wage that was bigger than the deal they offered Scottish Football for an entire years Live games and highlights.
    He’s one of the main reasons I opted out of the Stealth Tax License Fee years ago.
    Him an his ilk only rock the boat when they are safely on the beach of some exclusive Island Paradise.
    They make me sick the lot of them.

Comments are closed.