Gary Lineker is a wally, not a criminal

Gary Lineker – former BBC sports pundit, now full-time centrist bore – could be about to face a police investigation thanks to his social-media ‘activism’, the Telegraph reports.

The Metropolitan Police have received a number of complaints about an Instagram post Lineker shared last week from a pro-Palestine account. The post bemoaned the supposed evils of Zionism – that is, the belief in a Jewish state – and was illustrated with a rat emoji, an age-old anti-Semitic trope. (Lineker apologised for the post, as well he should have, and has now left the BBC.)

Although no investigation has yet been opened, the Met say the reports ‘will be assessed to determine what further action might be required’. Officers from Scotland Yard have also visited one of the complainants at her house.

No doubt the post Lineker shared was offensive, crass and pig ignorant. It revealed the gaping blind spot for anti-Semitism that is all too common among the correct-thinking clique. Indeed, it is staggering to think Lineker was unaware of the Nazi-era propaganda comparing Jews to rats. Especially for a man who famously claims to see resonances of the 1930s around every corner. But what does any of that have to do with the police?

That London’s finest are even considering investigating the preening pundit shows just how trigger-happy Britain’s thoughtpolice have become. The police seem almost obsessively preoccupied with what we tweet and post.

Right now, in England and Wales, up to 30 people are arrested every single day for saying something online that the police deem grossly offensive. Around 65 people a day are recorded as having committed a ‘non-crime hate incident’ – that is, they have said or done something considered ‘hateful’ that doesn’t meet the criminal threshold. In some cases, the ‘speechcrimes’ that have brought the cops to people’s doors are as banal as criticising a local councillor or complaining about a school governor. At this stage, it might be easier if the police told us what we are allowed to say, rather than leaving us to second guess which of our opinions might land us in a police cell.

Let us not add Gary Lineker to that ever-expanding list of people being harassed by the state. Yes, the post he unwittingly shared was far more despicable than many of the tweets that have landed others in handcuffs. But that doesn’t mean he should get a knock at the door, too. Lineker is a wally, not a criminal. Somewhere along the line, we seem to have lost sight of that crucial distinction.

Fraser Myers is deputy editor at spiked and host of the spiked podcast. Follow him on X: @FraserMyers.