What on earth has been going on at the BBC?

How has an organisation that prides itself as the best broadcaster on the planet allowed itself to be made to look so foolish by a former England football captain?

Gary Lineker's Tweets and the reaction from some right-wing newspapers and Tory MPs seem to have induced a state of catatonia in the upper echelons of the Beeb and led to their jettisoning all contact with common sense!

At least some sense seemed to return on Monday morning when Mr Lineker was re-instated with an apparent appology from the BBC.

His Tweets were in no way extreme - and the totally disproportionate reaction to them meant that millions of football fans were denied their weekend's entertainment.

To start with Mr Lineker did not accuse the government of adopting Nazi policies. What he did was to note that rhetoric of some of the anti-refugee commentators was not dissimilar to that seen in early 30s Germany.

Frankly anyone who has spent any time at all studying how a small bunch of murderous racist thugs took over one of the largest countries in Europe 90 years ago would have known exactly what he meant.

It was the ratchetting up of what seemed fairly innocuous comments over the years that proved so tragic. It's far easier to tone it down at the start.

But his comments were leapt on by the hard right in this country who seemed to be on the hunt for a target - someone who is popular, well-paid, and actually rather good at his job was just what they were looking for.

At first it seemed as if the BBC would do the sensible thing and just ignore these squeals.

But then, as the right got more raucous, they buckled.

We then had a corporation chaired by a Conservative Party donor (who facilitated a loan to a Tory PM) and led by a former Conservative council candidate suspending Mr Lineker because his criticism of the Conservative government breached impartiality rules.

You couldn't make it up!

Especially as Mr Lineker isn't a journalist. He has never done a news report. He's a sports presenter. 

He's not "The Face of the BBC" any more than Huw Edwards is, or Michael McIntyre or Danny Dyer, or Tess Daly and Claudia Winkelman.

He presents a football programme once a week - or twice if there's a decent FA Cup tie in the offing.

His criticisms of government policy have nothing whatsoever to do with his broadcasting, yet his bosses are trying to hang him out to dry.

Chris Packham has been critical of government environmental policies - many would say not without justification - but the BBC has said that as he hasn't raised them on Springwatch or any of his other programmes that's all right.

That's certainly the sensible line to take. But why did it apply to Mr Packham and not Mr Lineker?

Does the BBC think people who watch nature programmes are bright enough not to be influenced by the presenter's comments on the subject - but football fans will take anything their show's host says as gospel?

There are really serious problems facing the BBC but the future of Gary Lineker shouldn't be one of them.

If it is going to find a way through the troubled times ahead, then its bosses really do need to spend more time paying attention to what its viewers and listeners want.

And a lot less time listening to the rants of some right-wing media and Conservative MPs who are thrashing around for scapegoats to deflect attention away from what is happening in the country!