Final scores
Gary Lineker
, Issue 1650
It got the front-page exclusive on his exit from the BBC last week, as a "source" described it as "a heartbreaking end to an extraordinary broadcasting career" and "those close to the star" promised: "Gary remains passionate about speaking out over perceived injustices in the world, and will continue to call out things that he believes to be wrong."
The paper also got the scoop on the Match of the Day presenter's originally planned departure from the BBC back in November, helping earn a Press Award last week. Which all makes for rather a good return on the professional friendship Lineker and Sun editor Victoria Newton have cultivated over the years.
Ice-cold Alex
Meanwhile, over in the Mail, there was a different hero of the hour: BBC Sport boss Alex Kay-Jelski, who "senior sources" told the paper was "being celebrated by colleagues today as the man who finally got rid of Gary Lineker after years of headaches" and had been the only one brave enough to take on "a formidable task that many had avoided".
All that will have been very pleasing to Kay-Jelski, who was formerly the sports editor at... the Daily Mail!
Rat pack
Bak on 16 May, an incredulous Daily Mail had snorted: "Gary Lineker insisted how important it was to ‘know your history' just days before he shared a pro-Palestine video featuring an antisemitic rat slur […] Lineker's agent had claimed the presenter neither noticed the rat image nor was aware of its connotations."
The paper remained in unforgiving mood after Lineker's departure from the BBC, with sports columnist Ian Herbert fulminating that "sorry is not enough to undo the damage of that rat post" and pointing out that "the trope has been used by cartoonists to depict many groups, though most despicably it was used by Nazi propagandists in their portrayal of Jews in the 1930s".
Mac attack
It was indeed. And far more recently, in 2015, it was used by the Daily Mail's "Mac", aka Stan McMurtry, in an editorial cartoon which showed rats scurrying around the feet of Muslim asylum seekers, one of them carrying a gun, past a sign that read: "Welcome to Europe, Open Borders and the Free Movement of People."
Rival publications were quick to compare it to several specific Nazi cartoons portraying Jewish refugees in the 1930s, but the Mail – which has expended great energy and column inches on the topic of antisemitic cartoons and Nazi imagery in the Guardian on several occasions – stood by its scribbler, who continues to provide editorial cartoons for the Mail on Sunday every week.
Unlike Lineker's swiftly deleted Instagram post, Mac's drawing is still available on the Mail website, which even offers the opportunity to buy a "framed fine art print" of the image for £145.
Next issue on sale: 11th June 2025
More top stories in the latest issue:
LOWE POINT
A Guardian story about an antisemitic comment made by Rupert Lowe MP laid bare the complicity of the Express in keeping the story under wraps until now.
IMI-OH-MY...
The takeover deal that ended the two-year limbo of the Telegraph involved spectacular reverse-ferrets from almost everyone involved.
FALSE ECONOMIES
An article about private school fees in the Telegraph's online Money section was deleted after it emerged its subjects were imaginary creations.
WEALTH TACKS
As ever, the Sunday Times opted not to list its own proprietor in its Rich List as "he is a US citizen and based in America" – but its rules aren't consistent.
SECOND HELPINGS
The Spectator was shocked that Nicola Sturgeon has been earning more from outside jobs than as an MSP – but what might its own editor make of that?
NEVER SAY DEI
Bloomberg News has led the charge in recording how US firms are rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion policies – while doing the same thing itself.
HEADLINE INFLATION
Not long after lawyers at Reach plc warned hacks about misleading online headlines, the Express has had to make a series of very basic corrections.
