Gary Lineker revolt sees BBC in bigger crisis than tweet row Published 2 hours ago
When the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, took over in 2020, he declared his founding principle to be "impartiality".
Three years later, a row over that principle and how it applies across the corporation has created a crisis that has quite clearly caught managers by surprise.
Familiar, fixed points in the weekly TV schedule unexpectedly falling off air is proof of a crisis that has become something rather bigger than a row about some tweets.
The Gary Lineker issue is more than a row about the opinions of a highly paid sports presenter - it is a test of the BBC's fundamental values and the current director general's core mission.
The passions provoked by Lineker's political tweets and the decision to keep him off air until he and the BBC resolve this issue has poured petrol on a fire that was already well alight, the debate about the BBC's role in British politics and perceptions of bias both to the left and the right.