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Gary Lineker was briefly suspended by the BBC earlier this year for tweets about government asylum policy

By Katie Razzall & Emma Saunders

Culture and media editor and culture reporter

High-profile presenters should be allowed to express views on issues and policies but stop short of political campaigning, a new BBC report says.

New rules have been published for BBC flagship presenters following a row over Gary Lineker's social media posts.

It comes after a review into BBC social media guidelines was published by former ITN boss John Hardie.

Lineker responded on X, formerly Twitter, by saying the new rules were "all very sensible".

The new rules apply to presenters of flagship programmes outside news and current affairs, who will have "a particular responsibility to respect the BBC's impartiality, because of their profile on the BBC".

Those who work in BBC news and current affairs are already subject to stricter rules around impartiality when using social media.

The flagship programmes in the report include Match of the Day, which Lineker presents, plus The Apprentice with Alan Sugar.