Jeremy Gahagan
Live reporter

We are now ending our coverage of the news that Gary Lineker is set to return to our screens as host of Match of the Day.

The BBC's director general Tim Davie denied it was a climbdown while Lineker said he was "delighted" to have navigated through the row. You can read more in our main story here.

The page has been brought to you by Adam Durbin, James Gregory, Mattea Bubalo, Nathan Williams, Emily McGarvey and myself.

We'll be closing our live page shortly. Here's a summary of the main developments today:

• Gary Lineker will return to football coverage this weekend for the FA Cup quarter-final clash after a deal was struck with the BBC
• The BBC will launch an independent review of its social media guidelines, although who will lead this review is yet to be revealed
• It will place a particular focus on how the guidance applies to freelancers outside the corporation's news coverage, like Lineker
• BBC director general Tim Davie has denied he took the presenter off air last week due to political pressure
• Davie has apologised for a "difficult period" for staff, contributors, presenters and the audience, following mass-walkouts over the weekend disrupting most of the BBC's normal football coverage
• The head of the BBC has also acknowledged "grey areas" in the current guidelines - introduced in 2020
• Lineker has agreed to stick to the current guidelines while this review is carried out - but what this will mean in practice is not clear
• The Match of the Day host has taken to Twitter to say he is "immeasurably proud" to work for the BBC and thanked people for their support over the last few days
• The BBC's football coverage will resume as normal from this week, including tonight's Scottish Cup quarter-final between Falkirk and Ayr United
• There has also been discussion about the position of BBC chair Richard Sharp - Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said his position in the BBC is becoming "increasingly untenable", while Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has called on the PM to sack him

Adam Durbin
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

The BBC must establish clear, consistent social media guidance or it will find it difficult to attract high-profile contributors, a company specialising in working with celebrities to shape their social media presence, has said.

Lauren Beeching, founder of public relations firm Honest London, tells BBC News she believes the explosion of social media usage has caused a dramatic shift in how celebrities present themselves online.

She says that while in the past her company would advise against being vocal about controversial political matters, this is less of an issue now and high-profile people are far more willing to take a "significant hit from those who disagree with them".

On the impact the Lineker row could have on the BBC's ability to attract famous contributors, she says if the planned review decides freelancers outside of news and current affairs must remain impartial, it will cause significant problems for the corporation.

Beeching says it will be incredibly difficult to find "headlining names" who are "willing to essentially be silenced on their platforms in order to feature on the BBC".

She adds that, without any solutions, her company would be be cautious before advising a client to work with the BBC - short of an "incredibly clear contract" on what the celebrity can and can't do while working for them.

Comedian Dara Ó Briain has also been speaking out about what's been happening - and suggested that public figures should be allowed to express political views.

He tweeted:, external

Writer and director Armando Iannucci says the row over impartiality at the BBC will continue until the corporation is kept separate from government.

The Thick Of It creator tweeted, external:

Image source, PA

BBC Scotland's output was also hit over the weekend, including radio coverage of Rangers' Scottish cup victory and Scotland's Six Nations clash against Ireland.

Meanwhile, Sportscene was broadcast on TV with an amended format, while some Sportsound coverage on Radio Scotland was replaced with pre-recorded material.

But now that an agreement has been reached between the BBC and Gary Lineker, BBC Scotland has confirmed there will be full coverage of Falkirk's Scottish Cup quarter-final against Ayr United on Monday.

It will be broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel from 19:30 GMT, and there is also coverage on radio and online.

Image source, Reuters

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has weighed in now, describing the BBC's decision as the correct one - while also calling for a new chairman for the corporation.

Richard Sharp, who was appointed by the government to lead the BBC's board in 2021, has also faced controversy in recent weeks over past donations to the Conservative Party and his relationship with Boris Johnson.

Sharp's appointment is being investigated over allegations he failed to properly disclose details of his involvement in the facilitation of an £800,000 loan guarantee for the then PM. He has denied any involvement in the arrangement of a loan for Johnson.

The deal to get Gary Lineker back on air is a "problem shelved for the time being" rather than a long-term solution, says Richard Ayre, who was once the controller of BBC editorial policy.

Ayre who was part of the former BBC Trust until 2016, tells BBC News that he's surprised by the agreement, adding that it looks like the corporation has backed down without Lineker "having apparently given any ground" other than welcoming the review into its social media guidelines.

Asked if the deal was a resolution or just kicking the can down the road, he says the situation is "not remotely a problem solved".

Former head of BBC Sport and BBC TV News Roger Mosey has spoken out, describing the Lineker row as having "backfired horribly" on the BBC's senior management.

Mosey tells Adrian Chiles on Radio 5 Live that he has sympathy for the corporation's leaders in trying to ensure impartiality, but asking the Match of the Day presenter to "step aside was a very big move" and "unwise".

He adds that while many current and former BBC executives shared the view that Lineker's Tweet comparing the government's asylum policies to 1930s Germany was "against the guidelines", his comment's "weren't something you would normally take someone off air for".

Mosey says the problem with the situation was that it "looked like the BBC was giving into the government and Tory MPs" and therefore making the situation worse - even if this wasn't why Lineker was taken off air.

If you're just joining us, Gary Lineker is returning to BBC screens this weekend after reaching a deal with the corporation - following an impartiality row in which he criticised the government's new asylum policy.

Watch what happened in the days that came before the resolution this morning.

Writer and presenter Richard Osman has provided his take on the day's events...

Image source, Twitter

BBC’s impartiality mess: My 72 hours looking at the guidelinespublished at 13:47 Greenwich Mean Time 13 March 2023

13:47 GMT 13 March 2023

Ros Atkins
Analysis Editor

Image source, EPA

You might think that finding out exactly which BBC “guidelines” and “guidance” on impartiality are relevant to the Gary Lineker controversy would be straightforward.

I can confirm that, after several of us spent the weekend poring through the details, that's not necessarily the case.

The BBC has its Editorial Guidelines. There is also additional guidance on “individual use of social media” and impartiality is mentioned in the Royal Charter. And some individuals have particular arrangements in their contracts too (which, needless to say, we can't read).

This paragraph, from the social media guidance brought in by Tim Davie in 2020, feels most relevant:

However, it is far from clear if Gary Lineker ever accepted that this applied to him. He told me on The Media Show in 2021 that Davie had “never called me up and said you can’t tweet about that.” He went on: “I don’t think he could do that anyway. I’m my own person."

Combine that with what Davie himself said under questioning from MPs in September 2022 about Lineker’s use of social media: “It’s a work in progress in terms of where he draws the line".

For all the new guidance of 2020, what Gary Lineker could or couldn't do on Twitter looked far from settled two years later. And so, it all came to a head last week.

Today, in his statement, Tim Davie recognised there were “grey areas” in the 2020 guidance that could cause confusion.

This is the same guidance that, on Friday, the BBC said Gary Lineker had breached.

Trawling through the BBC website this week, I found a definition of impartiality shortly followed by a caveat that “putting impartiality in practice is more difficult”.

That's always been true. What's remarkable is that the BBC's own decision-making and its own guidance appears to have contributed to making it even more difficult in the last few days.

Former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, Richard Ayre, says he “pities” whoever will be tasked with reviewing the BBC’s editorial guidelines.

Speaking to Radio 5 Live’s Adrian Chiles, he says it’s “true” there are “grey areas” in the BBC’s guidelines, but that he’s sure they were there “deliberately to give the BBC a degree of discretion”.

“I pity the independent expert who is going to be asked to sort all of this out,” he says, “if he or she doesn’t result in a new set of guidelines which have some flexibility, then I think it will be even more difficult to hold the line of impartiality.”

When asked about freedom of expression, Ayre says: “Nobody says that freedom of expression is an inalienable right that should apply to somebody whatever job they choose to take and whatever contractual commitments they may enter into."

In response to a SPORTBible tweet announcing his dad's return to Match of the Day, George Lineker kept it short and sweet with a single goat emoji.

He's probably referring to G.O.A.T, meaning Greatest Of All Time.

Yesterday he tweeted that he was "proud of the old man" and that his dad "shouldn’t need to apologise for being a good person and standing by his word. The reaction of the public has been overwhelming."

Image source, Twitter

Image source, EPA

If you're just joining or or are in need of a catch-up, here's a quick summary of the deal BBC management and Gary Lineker struck to get the Match of the Day presenter back on the airwaves:

• Lineker will return to football coverage this weekend for the FA Cup quarter-final clash between Manchester City and Burnley
• The BBC will launch an independent review of its social media guideline, although who will lead this review is yet to be revealed
• It will place a particular focus on how the guidance applies to freelancers outside the corporation's news coverage, like Lineker
• BBC director general Tim Davie has denied he took the presenter off air last week due to political pressure
• He has apologised for a "difficult period" for staff, contributors, presenters and the audience, following mass-walkouts over the weekend disrupting most of the BBC's normal football coverage
• The head of the BBC has also acknowledged "grey areas" in the current guidelines - introduced in 2020
• Lineker has agreed to stick to the current guidelines while this review is carried out - but what this will mean in practice is not clear
• The broadcaster has taken to Twitter to say he is "immeasurably proud" to work for the BBC and thanked people for their support over the last few days

Image source, Reuters

Sir Craig Oliver, a former news executive at the BBC says the resolution was a "capitulation" by the corporation as it shows it cannot handle crises like these.

"I think what's happened here is Gary Lineker 1 - BBC credibility nil." he said.

"I think it's a total mess," he added.

Oliver, who was later the Downing Street communications chief when David Cameron was prime minister, also told the BBC:

"The reality is the BBC today has announced it will have a review of its social media guidelines. In fact, it needs a review of how it handles crisis like these."

Oliver said the corporation has been in a position where it was "slow to react" and made the "wrong choice" when it asked Lineker to step back from his presenting role, which led to chaos when other BBC Sport staff refused to do their shows.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC football commentator Steve Wilson says he's "delighted" that there has been a resolution.

In a tweet, he says he can now prepare for trips to Molineux, for Wolves vs Leeds United on Saturday, and Bramall Lane, for Sheffield United's FA Cup tie with Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.

Director general Tim Davie has been speaking to the BBC this morning, where he said that asking Gary Lineker to step aside last week was the "right thing" to do.

Now a Downing Street spokesperson has declined to say whether the prime minister has confidence in Davie, as he said that the choice of director general belongs to the BBC.

"I'm simply pointing to the fact that he's appointed by the BBC and it's a matter for them," the spokesman said when pressed by reporters.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said he was pleased the situation has been resolved and that Match of the Day will be back this weekend.

"We're pleased that this situation has been resolved, and that fans will be able to watch Match of the Day as normal this weekend," Rishi Sunak's spokesperson told reporters.

"We were disappointed to see that language being used, but ultimately it's a matter between him and the BBC."

Now the BBC has launched an independent review into its social media policies as part of the deal to get Gary Lineker back on air, here's a quick summary of what they currently say.

The corporation's editorial guidelines - which are publicly available online - says it is “committed to achieving due impartiality in all its output” and that “this commitment is fundamental to our reputation, our values and the trust of audiences”.

As for Twitter use, it says: “The external activities and public comments, for example on social media, of staff, presenters and others who contribute to our output can also affect perceptions of the BBC’s impartiality.”

The BBC also has specific rules over the use of social media for all employees, including freelancers, including behaving professionally and not bringing the BBC into disrepute.

They also include the following:

• If your work requires you to maintain your impartiality, don’t express a personal opinion on matters of public policy, politics, or ‘controversial subjects’ (as defined by Ofcom)

Before this latest row, guidelines for social media use had been tightened to acknowledge there are individuals who are not journalists or involved in factual programming who have an "additional responsibility" to the BBC because of their profile. Some had referred to this as a "Lineker clause".

"We expect these individuals to avoid taking sides on party political issues or political controversies and to take care when addressing public policy matters," those guidelines say.

As part of today's fresh agreement, the Match of the Day presenter has agreed to abide by the current rules while the review into them is carried out - although what that means in practice in terms of his public statements is as yet unclear.