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Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to stand up to the Tory MP \u201csnowflakes\u201d who tried to get Gary Lineker \u201ccancelled\u201d by the BBC.<\/p>\n
The Labour leader also challenged the PM over his ties to under-fire BBC chairman Richard Sharp, a former Tory donor under investigation over links to Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir urged Mr Sunak at PMQs to \u201cstand up to his snowflake MPs waging war on free speech\u201d as he attacked backbench attempts to \u201ccancel a broadcaster\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Labour leader also criticised BBC leadership over the saga which saw Lineker suspended then reinstated without having to apologise for his tweet about Mr Sunak\u2019s small boats plan.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir said the corporation\u2019s impartiality was put at risk by the \u201ccancel culture addicts on [Tory] benches, a BBC leadership that caves into their demands and a prime minister too weak to do anything about them\u201d.<\/p>\n
Weighing in on the BBC chairman, Mr Starmer said that Mr Sharp was \u201cnot just any old Tory donor\u201d saying he was \u201cso close to the prime minister he has been described as his mentor\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helped to arrange an \u00a3800,000 credit line for the former prime minister [Mr Johnson], a minor detail he forgot to tell the select committee which scrutinised his appointment,\u201d said the Labour leader.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cDoes the prime minister think that his friend\u2019s position is still tenable?\u201d <\/p>\n
Appearing to distance himself from the chairman, Mr Sunak said Mr Sharp was appointed \u201cbefore I became prime minister\u201d.<\/p>\n
The PM also insisted the review process looking at Mr Sharp\u2019s appointment was \u201cindependent\u201d, adding: \u201cInstead of pre-judging, and pre-empting that review we should let it conclude and wait for the outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Keir\u00a0Starmer\u00a0has Mr Sharp\u2019s position as \u201cincreasingly untenable\u201d over the\u00a0Lineker row.<\/p>\n
Labour and others have suggested he is compromised by the investigation into whether he failed to properly share details of his involvement in an \u00a3800,000 loan for\u00a0Mr Johnson when he was at No 10.<\/p>\n
Roger Bolton, an ex-senior executive at the BBC, is among several former top corporation figures to call for Mr Sharp to resign since he could no longer \u201cdefine impartiality\u201d.<\/p>\n
The media expert, who hosts Roger Bolton\u2019s Beeb Watch podcast, pointed that Mr Sharp would ultimately decide whether to accept recommended changes to social media guidelines at the end of an independent review.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe report will be given to the BBC board to decide what further should be done. It is chaired by someone, Richard Sharp, who is not seen as impartial by many people and who has been missing in action over the last crucial days.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to stand up to the Tory MP \u201csnowflakes\u201d who tried to get Gary Lineker \u201ccancelled\u201d by the BBC. The Labour leader also challenged the PM over his ties […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n