Gary Lineker appears to take thinly veiled swipe at 'liar' Boris in new tweet

The BBC presenter wrote to his 8.9 million Twitter followers: “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."

It is not the first tweet with political themes that Lineker has sent since returning to presenting duties.

As a freelance broadcaster, Lineker is not a permanent member of BBC staff, nor is he responsible for news or political content, so in accordance with the current guidelines he is not subject to the same rules on impartiality as permanent employees.

A BBC insider said that the broadcaster was aware of Lineker’s latest tweet but would not comment pending the outcome of its review.

They added that the individual responsible for handling the review was due to be confirmed shortly.

As part of a series of messages announcing his return, he wrote: “However difficult the last few days have been, it simply doesn’t compare to having to flee your home from persecution or war to seek refuge in a land far away.”

The following day he retweeted a Channel 4 News clip in which former Prime Minister Theresa May criticised the Government’s proposed immigration bill as a “blanket dismissal” of those facing persecution.

The latest tweet is not understood to be causing the same degree of alarm as Lineker’s original message that led to his suspension.

In that tweet, he compared the government’s language around its migration policy to that used by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.