Do the Tories now own the BBC

"He also looks at, and investigates "Rewilding", a process which is apparantly controversial in some right wing circles."



Why would that be controversial? - the Government gives taxpayers money to UK farmers to produce nothing so we have to import more food from abroad.

Nothing remotely controversial about that. 

The least The Guardian should do is ensure that Helena Horton, its Environment reporter, 'steps back'  after putting her name to this utter twaddle which turns out to be nothing more than fabricated Leftist Fake News. If they've both got spare time on their hands this Saturday evening, perhaps she and Mr. Lineker can find a Socialist Workers Party meeting that they can attend together   

I accept - that like many people I was taken for a ride by whoever leaked this story to The Guardian

Attenborough can probably get away with anything but like all BBC employees he will have signed an agreement about airing his political opinions. Chris Packham also needs to be careful after his comments about Novara Media. It's quite simple really. The BBC is funded by the taxpayer and has a duty to be impartial and non-political. If BBC employees want to make political statements they can go and work for a company that isn't publicly funded.

Andrew Marr left the BBC to work for LBC in order to be able to say what he thinks. I must admit I always thought it was perfectly obvious that Marr hated the Tories and backed the Labour party - like virtually all the BBC's political commentators. The BBC stopped being impartial many decades ago, It looks like there's now reaching a crunch point because many BBC employees are backing Lineker and putting pressure on the DG. This is an important point of principle and it could flush out a lot of Tory-hating BBC employees.

I've had, perhaps, a dozen BBC contracts over the years. There has never been any mention of" politics" or "impartiality" - merely the avoidance of any "conflict of interest".

News Presenters have a responsibility to remain politically neutral, and their contracts reflect this. For everyone else, so long as you're not doing anything at odds with what you're being paid for, fill your boots.

(I remember there was some internal talk, many years ago, over whether some of the main movers behind "The Thick of It" were okay talking at Labour meetings during a general election campaign, or if they should be bound by "impartiality" given the nature of the show. Sense prevailed.)

The Beeb have got themselves into a right old mess over this now. And far from giving Mr L a slapped wrist that would be tomorrow's chip paper by Monday, they've instead once again got people talking about the REAL political bias on show being the grubby appointment of their Chair.

Would you join in on a Right-wing backlash if his episode was shown on TV?

I agree totally that BBC presenters should not "air their political views" 

However, outside of the BBC, on social media, at home, in the pub, in private, ALL BBC employees are entitled to personal opinions. The BBC has no right to demand or ask that any employee should refrain from holding or expressing their personal beliefs.