These remarks were made in a tweet, which caused a considerable stir and led to the launch of an independent review of the BBC’s social media guidelines for freelancers. Lineker was subsequently taken off air by the broadcaster, though he later returned following a boycott by fellow on-air talent.

Despite the controversy surrounding his tweet, Lineker argued that he was simply stating facts and had no intention of causing a fuss. He pointed out that he had worked with refugee charities for years, which had given him firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by asylum seekers.

When he saw a government film promoting its asylum plans, he felt that the language was similar to that used in Nazi Germany and expressed this view in his tweet.

He also noted that he had agreed to continue tweeting about climate change and refugees despite new social media guidelines from the BBC’s director-general, adding that the language used in the asylum policy debate had real-life consequences.