LONDON — BBC program schedules were hit again on Sunday as broadcast executives failed to mitigate the fallout of a dispute over its impartiality standards.
Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s chief finance minister, said on Sunday he “profoundly” disagreed with comments made by star football host Gary Lineker, who was taken off-air over recent comments against what he called the government’s “immeasurably cruel policy” on immigration.
The broadcaster’s coverage of the Women’s Super League on Sunday was reduced with no pre-match presentation. The BBC reported its Match of the Day 2 program on Sunday will repeat Saturday’s reduced format with no presenters, pundits or commentary.
The coverage has been hit due to a boycott from a group of hosts and co-hosts who disagreed with the BBC’s decision to suspend Lineker.
BBC Director General Tim Davie apologized for the disruption over the weekend and insisted the broadcaster was “working very hard to resolve the situation.” He said he wanted to get Lineker “back on air.”
- Amid accusations from the opposition Labour Party that the BBC was “caving in” to the demands of Conservative Party members, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak issued a statement on Saturday evening insisting the U.K. government should not get involved.
- “Gary Lineker was a great footballer and is a talented presenter. I hope that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the government,” the statement said.
But on Sunday morning Hunt told Sky News that “people’s confidence in the impartiality of the BBC” should be “restored.”
“The reason that it is a great national institution that we all treasure so much is because it is respected for impartiality,” he said.
