Why is Gary Lineker being given what is effectively a hero's send-off by being allowed to present Match of the Day this weekend? By doing so, the BBC is reaffirming to licence payers that this is a weak and ineffectual corporation unwilling or unable to stand up to their highest-paid presenter.

Of course he is now going – but it is an 'agreed departure'. This is the barest amount of damage-limitation. What we, shareholders in the BBC through our licence fee, should have been told is that Lineker has been sacked. With immediate effect. So why has the BBC dragged its feet? We know, of course, that our state-sponsored broadcaster has been mired in accusations of antisemitism and anti-Israel bias.

So, are double-standards at play? After all, when in 2019 presenter Danny Baker issued a grotesque tweet about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex together with an image of a couple holding hands and a chimpanzee dressed in clothes (with the caption: "Royal baby leaves hospital") he was rightly sacked immediately.

The BBC proclaimed of the horrendous post that Baker made a "serious error of judgment". It stated at the time that Baker's tweet "goes against the values we as a station aim to embody." How is Lineker different? Was Baker an easier scalp – lacking the Match of the Day star’s profile?

Indeed, as Jane Lush, Ex-Controller of BBC Entertainment and the person who personally fired Angus Deayton from Have I Got News For You, said no one should be more important than the BBC. After Deayton was sacked, she pointed out that many predicted it would see the demise of the programme. Yet “23 years later – the show is going as strongly as ever.”

The lesson the BBC should learn is that they cannot allow anyone – however well-known or influential – to damage their reputation in this way again. Yet the ex-footballer has repeatedly dodged serious punishment for his lamentable outpourings on social media. As Danny Cohen, former Director of BBC Television, pointed out, the BBC's statement about Lineker`s departure “does not even mention antisemitism". A fact Cohen said "is hard to understand”.

As if it needs repeating, Lineker shared an antisemitic trope comparing Jews to vermin. Given this is right out of the Nazi playbook, why no mention of Jew-hatred in BBC Director General Tim Davie's remarks about Lineker's departure? Cohen also believes that had any other presenter behaved in this way he or she wouldn't have been allowed to continue for a minute. Given his experience of working with the corporation, his words have immense value.

Antisemitism is spiralling in the UK – as a Jewish person who loves this country, I feel its creeping impact everywhere. On our campuses, in public institutions. How can the BBC – a news organisation, supposedly alive to what is happening in this country – be so blinkered? So weak?

By feting Lineker with his farewell moment, the BBC telegraphs an outrageous message to those of us in the Jewish community. As well as anyone offended by racism, prejudice and bias. That bashing the Jews and trashing the truth doesn't result in an immediate sacking. And to hell with the consequences. That the corporation, when it chooses, will selectively garland departing offenders with final opportunities to enjoy a moment in the sun.

In this case giving succour to Lineker, allowing him to appear the martyr to his cause and putting up two fingers to the rest of us. This is a huge moment for the BBC. And it is not too late to show that it takes seriously those who smash through its claims of impartiality and cause huge offence to the communities it serves.

Otherwise – and shamefully – it will continue to erode public trust, damage its worldwide brand as a credible news organisation and demonstrate it cares little for acting as a potential instrument for antisemitism. The only way to effect change is to take robust action. Giving Lineker the boot with immediate effect is a place to start. To do otherwise will be an egregious act of gaslighting and allow Lineker to leave with a smile on his face. What a turn-off.