Gary Lineker has tweeted about people who “constantly tell fibs” less than an hour after Boris Johnson’s legal defence over Partygate was published.
The former PM insisted in his written evidence to the inquiry that his denials over lockdown parties in No 10 were made “in good faith” and based on what he “honestly” knew at the time.
The BBC football presenter tweeted: “When folk constantly tell fibs, it’s really difficult to know when they’re telling the truth. I imagine it’s even a challenge for themselves.”
Lineker did not make it clear who he was referring to but Twitter users speculated the post was about Mr Johnson and his 52-page Partgate defence dossier.
Some other users posted comical responses related to football, including whether the verdict by the corss-party privileges committee on whether Mr Johnson lied to parliament might go to VAR.
Lineker, 62, was briefly suspended as host of Match Of The Day this month over his criticism of the Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy, but returned to air following a boycott by top on-air talent at the broadcaster.
He was taken off air after comparing the language used to launch a new government asylum seeker policy with 1930s Germany in a tweet. Lineker returned to host the show on Saturday after his brief suspension.
BBC director-general Tim Davie later said he recognised “grey areas” in the broadcaster’s social media guidance could cause “confusion” and announced an independent review of the guidelines, particularly for freelancers.
Lineker believed he had a “special arrangement” with the BBC allowing him to make comments about refugees and the small boats crisis, his agent Jon Holmes has claimed.
Calling the recent row a “shambles”, he said his client believed he had an understanding with Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, that he could make public statements on certain issues.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group said it was “obvious” that Boris Johnson deliberately misled parliament and should resign as an MP. The group tweeted: “His claim that he did so in “good faith” is sickening.”
Lobby Akinnola, whose father died with Covid-19, and was buried a day before Mr Johnson was photographed with wine and cheese in the No 10 garden, described his Partygate defence as “complete and utter nonsense”.
“[Mr Johnson] accepts he misled Parliament, but he did it in good faith because he was not aware at the time that what he was doing was breaking any rules,” said the campaigner. “I think it’s just … complete and utter nonsense. I think it’s ridiculous to say that ignorance is some kind of defence.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Britain’s Berlusconi strikes again. After countless lies, scandals and failures, it’s time to put an end once and for all to this Conservative soap opera.”
