Gary Lineker jumps into Clive Myrie row after he’s pulled from News At 10

Gary Lineker has waded in after the BBC pulled Clive Myrie from News At 10 following his Boris Johnson jokes.

The former footballer, 62, took to Twitter to discuss the move, amid concerns that the newsreader’s quips could be seen as “anti-Tory”.

He shared with his 8.9 million followers: “Oh for crying out loud! If the BBC invite @CliveMyrieBBC to present #HIGNFY the chances are there’ll be political jokes.”

The journalist appeared on Have I Got News For You as a host, where he commented on a video of the former Prime Minister with his dog.

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The newsreader made several remarks about Boris, 59, and referenced his resignation when opening the BBC show.

As a result, content chief Charlotte Moore became concerned and has removed from his usual spot last minute.

After Clive mentioned Boris’ pet, a film was shown of the former Mayor of London running with his Jack Russell cross.

Clive later reassured journalist Helen Lewis, who appeared on the panel, that they would discuss Johnson’s “mad” honours list later.

Team captain Ian Hislop later told the audience to remember that they were “here for the end of Clive Myrie’s career”.

After the comedy programme aired at 9pm, Jane Hill replaced Clive on the news.

Regarding the situation, a BBC executive stated: “It didn’t feel right for Clive to go almost straight to the news when he’d just been making jokes.

“It was a tonal thing rather than due to anyone being overly anxious.”

Gary’s comment on the matter is not the first time that the pundit has openly spoken about issues regarding the Government.

In March he was removed from hosting Match of the Day after likening the UK’s new asylum policy to 1930s Germany.

At the time, many fans and celebrities supported the Walkers ambassador including Carol Vorderman, Soccer Saturday presenter Jeff Stelling and author Richard Osman amongst others.