3

Boris Johnson failed leadership test over taking the knee, says Keir Starmer

 2 years ago
source link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57778668
Go to the source link to view the article. You can view the picture content, updated content and better typesetting reading experience. If the link is broken, please click the button below to view the snapshot at that time.

Boris Johnson failed leadership test over taking the knee, says Keir Starmer

Published2 hours ago
image copyrightGetty Images
image captionEngland players have 'taken the knee' during the Euros tournament as part of a protest against racism

Boris Johnson "failed the test of leadership" by failing to condemn fans who booed England players taking the knee, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

At the start of the Euro tournament, Boris Johnson stopped short of condemning fans booing players who took part in the anti-racism protest.

Mr Johnson said he wanted supporters to be "cheering and not booing".

But, the Labour leader said the "inactions of leaders have consequences".

Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were all targets for online racist abuse following England's defeat to Italy in the Euros final on Sunday evening.

Mr Johnson praised the England football team who he said had "played like heroes" and "brought joy to this country".

Addressing those who sent abuse, the prime minister said: "Shame on you - I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged."

His comments were echoed by Sir Keir who said the abuse was "absolutely appalling".

However the Labour leader also aimed his criticism towards the prime minister who, he said had "failed the test of leadership because whatever he says today about racism he had a simple choice at the beginning of this tournament in relation to the booing of those who were taking the knee.

"The prime minister failed to call that out and the actions and inactions of leaders have consequences, so I'm afraid the prime minister's words today ring hollow."

Downing Street said the prime minister was "explicit in his condemnation of any racial abuse in any circumstances".

The act of taking the knee has become a prominent symbol in sport and during anti-racist protests in recent years, and England players have been adopting the stance at the start of their matches.

Speaking to GB News about the England players' protest in June, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she didn't support "people participating in that type of gesture politics".

Asked if she would criticise fans who booed England players taking the knee she said: "That's a choice for them, quite frankly".

Tweeting on the morning after the final, Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused both Mr Johnson and Ms Patel of giving "racists license" and compared them to "arsonists complaining about a fire they poured petrol on".

The home secretary was also attacked by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi - a former Conservative minister - who said: "If we 'whistle' and the 'dog' reacts we can't be shocked if it barks and bites. It's time to stop the culture wars that are feeding division dog whistles win votes but destroy nations."

However another Conservative MP Fay Jones told the BBC she supported players trying to fight racism but added that taking the knee "is a political symbol and I think that's the problem that certain people have had with it."

Meanwhile another Conservative Natalie Elphicke has apologised for suggesting Marcus Rashford should have spent more time focusing on football than "playing politics", after he missed a penalty.

image copyrightPA Media
image captionBukayo Saka has been among the players to receive racist abuse online

The abuse received in the aftermath of the match has also raised questions about the role of social media companies.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Patel said social media companies could "no longer ignore some of the appalling, vile, racist, violent and hateful content that appears on their platforms".

"We have been clear that if they do not stamp this out we will take action against them in the Online Safety Bill," she added.

The proposed legislation is yet to be published but it could give the media watchdog Ofcom powers to fine social media companies up to £18m if they fail in their "duty of care".

The Football Association have also urged social media companies to ban abusers from their platforms, as well as gathering evidence to make prosecutions easier.

In a statement, Facebook said it had "quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England's footballers".

"In addition to our work to remove this content, we encourage all players to turn on Hidden Words, a tool which means no one has to see abuse in their comments or DMs,"

"No one thing will fix this challenge overnight, but we're committed to keeping our community safe from abuse."


report

Recommend

About Joyk


Aggregate valuable and interesting links.
Joyk means Joy of geeK