Gary Lineker stands by his immigration policy remarks

Gary Lineker has said he will stand his ground after a day of attacks from ministers over tweets he posted earlier this week criticising the government’s asylum policy, and dismissed suggestions he could face suspension from his £1.35m-a-year job at the BBC.

Pressure continues to mount on Lineker, with the culture secretary, the home secretary and two former BBC directors adding to the criticism of the Match of the Day presenter’s comments on social media, in which he likened the language used to set out the government’s immigration plans to “that used by Germany in the 30s”.

However, support for Lineker has come from media figures including Piers Morgan and the former Sky News presenter Adam Boulton.

On Thursday, Lineker suggested he was not facing any sanction or suspension. “Happy that this ridiculously out of proportion story seems to be abating and very much looking forward to presenting [Match of the Day] on Saturday. Thanks again for all your incredible support. It’s been overwhelming,” he tweeted.

Lineker also responded to questions from journalists outside his home on Thursday morning.

Asked whether he stood by what he said in his tweets, the football pundit replied: “Of course.” He was then asked if he feared being suspended. Lineker told reporters: “No.”

A BBC insider said that while senior managers had had conversations with Lineker the matter was yet to be resolved and no course of action had yet been determined.

The home secretary, Suella Braverman, who has previously been criticised by a Holocaust survivor for the language used about refugees, claimed Lineker’s tweets “diminishes the unspeakable tragedy” of the Holocaust, calling the comparison he made to 30s Germany “lazy and unhelpful”.

“I think it is,