A cabinet minister tried to use the Gary Lineker row to attack Labour - but only ended up scoring a massive own goal.
Penny Mordaunt delivered a bizarre monologue in the House of Commons this morning in which she attempted to compare the Match of the Day host to Keir Starmer’s party.
Lineker is at the centre of controversy after he said some of the language used by the government to promote its latest immigration crackdown was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.
The former England striker has been criticised by ministers, among others, and has faced calls for the BBC to sack him as a presenter.
In her cringey speech, Mordaunt said: “Labour are borrowing from the Gary Lineker playbook.
“They are a party of goal-hangers and the occasional left-wing striker. Hanging around the goalmouth, poised to seize any opportunities and take an easy shot.
″But that only works if the ball is in the right half. This country doesn’t need goal-hangers, it needs centre forwards.
“It needs people who put in the hard work, take tough decisions, grip a problem and work out how to solve it and create those opportunities - and that is what we are doing.”
Lineker replied to make fun of Mordaunt’s “clumsy” analogy. “I’m just happy to have been better in the 6 yard box than you are at the despatch box,” he said.
Other Twitter users were quick to point out that comparing Labour to a record-breaking England goalscorer who also starred for Leicester, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona in a glittering career may not be a wise move for the Tories.
One pointed out the obvious flaw for the Tories in comparing Labour to someone who was very good at their job.
Another recalled that it is not the first time the Conservatives have gone to war with a popular England striker.
Meanwwhile, another Twitter user chose the perfect football video to capture Mordaunt’s embarrassment.
A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “The Tories are more like Sven Goran Eriksson: a long, grim period in charge that leaves everyone worse off and takes years to fix.”