Thread by @steveparks

Next up at the @BylineFest is @GaryLineker, someone who has chosen to use his position and celebrity to engage positively in public discourse and faced the wrath of the Press. He’s being interviewed by @thelisamaxwell
#BylineFest

First up, how does he respond to people who criticise him using his social media platform to share his views and discuss politics. People who tell him to shut up and stick to football.

He says, I’d say they’re probably right, for all the grief it gives me...
#BylineFest

... but in reality, why should I have less opportunity to talk about what I think than the people who raise that criticism. I have these views on political and humanitarian issues and it’s part of who I am, and I don’t just want to be boring like sportspeople who plug their book

(At this point a big gust of wind causes a bit of a rupture in the structure of the big top and water starts flooding onto the stage - it’s raining heavily here)

Gary talks about growing up and how his dad was a Thatcherite, and over the years he has voted for a few different parties. He’s not set on any party.
But he’s concerned about certain issues of fairness and humanitarianism

And he talks about Brexit. He came out for Remain, and got a lot of stick for that. He says people weren’t properly informed and were even told lies. So he wanted to be able to use his platform to counter some of that.

...he says you also have to understand why people voted as they did. They felt disenfranchised, angry.
He says there was a vote, leave won and he respects that. But he feels now the reality is seen people are changing their minds and another vote would bring a different result

The interviewer says he tweeted that Jeremy Corbyn has way more charisma and speaking ability that Theresa May. Gary says “but who doesn’t?”

He says that to be fair she has the problem of being pulled by the far right of her party.

... and that’s what concerns him, the move to extremes and their loud angry approach. He says it’s drowning out more sensible views which the majority have.

Gary talks about his comments about treatment of refugees that the tabloids attacked him for.
“I just don’t understand how you can not have empathy for another human being who has had to flee their own home and travel hundreds of miles”

Lisa says he is listed as someone who is paid a lot of money, and he often gets criticised for that.

He says he’s not going to try justify that. In sport and entertainment you get a lot of money. Does he feel he deserves to earn more than someone who does a ‘real’ job? No

Lisa goes back to his tweets. One in which he says the treatments of refugees by many is nothing more than racism, and someone replies ‘what about how innocent Londoners were treated at Parsons Green by a so called refugee”

He says this is the common response now “whataboutery” - if you raise one issue, someone says yeah what about another issue. Nobody’s going to say we shouldn’t be concerned about terrorism, but that doesn’t mean we can’t also be concerned about refugees

Gary talks about his rules of tweeting, one of which is not to tweet when he’s had a few - though he says Alan Shearer is better at tweeting when he’s had a few

And the other rule is to reread his tweets after he’s written them, and if he’s even just 1% uncomfortable with it, don’t send it.
He’s written many tweets that never got sent.

Audience Q: will the improvement I The England football team help bring the country together?

I’d love to say yes, he said. football does bring people together to some extent though

Audience Q: about women’s football, it was recently said that the Press could be doing more by covering it

Gary says the BBC is working to give it more coverage. Hopefully the England team will qualify for the World Cup next year and that will have a big effect

Audience Q: what do you think the effect of Brexit on football will be?

We just don’t know. There’s no detail. For fans there could be an impact on travel to games. We just hope things won’t be as bad as they seem to be going at the moment.

Lisa asks Gary about his Twitter spats with Piers Morgan.

“He’s just annoying.... just annoying. And mostly wrong.”

Audience Q: what about the issue of mental health in football?

Gary says it’s a particular problem after people finish playing. Money runs out. The divorce rate is something like over 70%. The self worth goes down. There’s only so many coach jobs, only so many commentary jobs

... but things are improving, there is work being done to address the issue.

Audience Q: about the issue of short sponsorship, so young kids end up wearing shirts with gambling logos

Gary says he agrees it’s an issue. He’s also concerned about the advertising at games and on tv around games.
He gets asked to do ads for gambling and it’s always no

And that about wraps it up for the fireside chat with Gary Lineker here at @BylineFest
Given focus of this festival, I’d have liked more time on the issues around his campaigning - examples of behaviour of the press, how he manages that, handles discussion with public online etc