Monday’s papers continue to focus on the impartiality row between the BBC and Gary Lineker, following a disruptive weekend to TV football coverage at the broadcaster. The i reports that Lineker is set to be reinstated as Match of the Day next week and the BBC’s director general is set to announce a review of rules for presenters on use of social media. The paper also reports on growing pressure on BBC chairman Richard Sharp to resign.
In its front page, the Metro says Gary Lineker insisted he cannot say anything amid the “growing crisis” at the BBC, following his social media comments about the UK government’s asylum policy. Talks between the BBC and Lineker are said to be “moving in the right direction” after a weekend of scheduling disruption to the broadcaster’s sports coverage.
The Daily Telegraph says Lineker is “set to return as BBC bosses back down”. In another report on its front page, the paper focuses on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a £5bn increase in military spending to strengthen the UK’s national defences and curb threat from Russia and China.
The Daily Mail asks whether the BBC will strike a deal with Gary Lineker today, “to end TV stand-off”. It goes on to say that the corporation’s director general, Tim Davie, returned back from the US “for crisis talks in bid to get £1.35m star back on screen by Saturday”.
“Back of the net?” is the Daily Mirror’s headline. It reports that “a compromise deal” between Lineker and the BBC is being “thrashed out” and the presenter could be back on Match of the Day next Saturday.
“Lineker back on box” is the Sun’s headline, as the paper reports that BBC bosses “are due to reveal a deal that will let tweet-row star back” on Match of the Day.
Echoing the other reports, the Times’ lead story encompasses the latest development in the row between Gary Lineker and the BBC, saying the corporation is seeking a “truce”. It also goes on to report on the prime minister’s updated diplomatic and defence strategy, adding he has unveiled plans to deal with the “epoch-defining challenges” of China.
The Guardian says executives at the BBC were “scrambling to repair relations” between the corporation and Lineker. The MOTD presenter was pictured walking his dog in London on Sunday. The paper goes on to report on the ongoing crisis surrounding the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, as the UK government tries to secure an emergency support package for the company’s British arm.
The Financial Times leads on the UK repercussions of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. It reports that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is rushing to provide a cash-flow “lifeline” to some UK-based tech business, which have been affected. The paper says Mr Hunt has dismissed a bailout of the UK arm of SVB, but will instead focus on keeping cash flowing to tech groups.
“White Easter” is the Daily Star’s headline, as the paper reports on a new Polar blast, which may lead to snow as late as Easter.
The Daily Express leads on a report that Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered the police “to focus on solving crime rather than investigating woke I’m offended complaints under a new code”.
“Will BBC Do Lineker Deal Today To End TV Stand-Off?” asks the Daily Mail. Yes, according to several other papers.
The Times says the BBC is ready to allow the Match of the Day host back on television as part of what it calls a “fudge” involving a review of the broadcaster’s social media guidelines.
The Sun claims the BBC risks a new row with Conservative MPs after what it describes as an “astonishing climbdown” by bosses despite Gary Lineker’s refusal to apologise.
Writing in the Times, the former controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, says the BBC needs to resolve how its impartiality rules should operate outside its news division, but he insists the Lineker affair is not as serious as the corporation’s row with Tony Blair’s government about the use of intelligence before the Iraq War.
The Guardian suggests the episode has left the BBC chairman, Richard Sharp – who was appointed by the government – “fighting for his future”, with both the prime minister and chancellor stopping short of backing him to guard the broadcaster’s impartiality amid the ongoing inquiry into his links to Boris Johnson’s finances.
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It says Mr Hunt has rejected a bail-out of the UK arm of the bank, and is instead focusing on keeping cash flowing, with officials working on a rescue package that would provide guarantees for banks to offer new loans to those companies with funds locked in SVB accounts.
The government’s £5bn boost to defence spending is highlighted by the Daily Telegraph, which notes that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace originally asked the Treasury for between £8bn and £11bn.
The paper says the investment has been criticised by the former head of the Army, General Lord Dannatt, who warned that the decision not to spend significantly more was “very dangerous for European security”. And the Conservative chair of the Defence Select Committee, Tobias Ellwood, said the announcement would be welcomed most in Moscow and Beijing.
It says new draft guidelines, set to go before Parliament on Monday, will call on officers to “protect freedom of expression” and ensure they no longer waste time on spurious “political” debates.
“We agree whole-heartedly”, says the Express in its leader column. “For far too long, the focus of the police has become warped. They are not there to get involved when a person says something offensive to another; it’s time to go back to basics”.
