for talks on defence, including the plan for australia to get us nuclear subs. britain s chancellor warns uk tech companies are at serious risk from the collapse of the silicon valley bank, and says ministers are doing everything they can to protect them. and the countdown to the oscars begins but who will be smiling at the end of hollywood s biggest event of the year? the controversy over bbc sports presenter gary lineker and his tweets criticising the uk government s policy on asylum seekers shows no sign of abating. yesterday, it led to widespread disruption of the corporation s football coverage as fellow presenters and commentators pulled out in support of the former england international. he d been told by the bbc to step back from presenting its flagship football show match of the day. now the bbc say today s coverage is also likely to be affected with reduced coverage on the live broadcast of the women s super league clash between chelsea and manchester
back from presenting its flagship football show match of the day. now the bbc say today s coverage is also likely to be affected with reduced coverage on the live broadcast of the women s super league clash between chelsea and manchester united. simon jones has more. now on bbc one, we re sorry that we re unable to show our normal match of the day, including commentary tonight, but here now is the best action from today s premier league matches. a match of the day unlike any other. no presenter, no pundits, not even the famous theme tune. instead, 20 minutes of highlights commentary replaced by the sound of the crowd. gary lineker himself spent the afternoon watching his former side, leicester city. the bbc s highest paid star, forced to step back over a tweet about the government s migration policy. his suspension prompted what s being described as a mutiny at the corporation, as other presenters and commentators walked out in support of lineker, leaving the bbc s director general
and the liverpool boss, who saw his side beaten at bournemouth, also wanted to have his say. and i cannot see any reason why you would ask somebody to step back for saying that. i can t. i m not sure if that s a language issue or not, but i can t, i can t find it. for the bbc, this is an issue of impartiality. the corporation says people working in news can t express any political opinions. caution is advised for all staff, but the bbc guidelines say the risk is lower where an individual is expressing views publicly on an unrelated area. for example, a sports or science presenter expressing views on politics or the arts. but the top talent have also been told there is an additional responsibility to the bbc, because of their profile on the bbc. this situation has caused a lot of concern for people - working across the bbc, - in relation to how they respond to the impartiality guidelines, - which in our view, they need to be both proportionate, but also
bbc managers realise it would become such a story and so many other broadcasters would say i m not working if gary lineker has been suspended. sports coverage has been affected today. match of the day 2, we think that will be shorter, and no presenter, women s super league, thatis no presenter, women s super league, that is due to be on air, we think there is no presenters on that and possibly 5 live and world service football, at the moment that looks like it is go i ade head but yesterday things were cancelled at the last minute, what the bbc will not want is for next weekend to be in the same situation and no football for people on tv or radio. to be in the same situation and no football for people on tv or radio. joining me now is lis howell, director of broadcasting at city university of london. thank you forjoining us. do you agree with what charlotte was saying there, that it seems the bbc failed to understand or perhaps to imagine
now two or three years old guideline. stewart purvis, former chief executive of itn news, said it could take some time for the bbc to sort things out. tim davie talked about reflecting on the guidelines. i think what he means is can we have another look at these guidelines, what freelance broadcasters can and cannot say on their twitter feeds, and that will take some time. you could have a relatively quick review or you could actually take months, and what you do in the meantime? is gary lineker to be reinstated as a presenter? will he be asked to apologise? if so, what exactly would he have to apologise for, and would he agree? there s so much uncertainty. there is a programme tonight, another match of the day tonight, will this be solved in time? difficult to see it can be solved completely but perhaps some kind of fudge can be created just to get bbc sport properly back in the air.