Boris Johnson has refused to apologise for his failure to condemn the booing of England footballers, as Keir Starmer accused him of “trying to stoke a culture war”.
In a stormy session of prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, the Labour leader pointed to comments ahead of the Euro 2020 tournament in home secretary Priti Patel said that it was for fans to decide whether they booed players who took the knee in protest and racism and Mr Johnson failed to condemn those who do.
After both the prime minister and Ms Patel belatedly voiced outrage following racist abuse directed at England penalty-takers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Buyako Saka, Starmer said it was clear that “the government has been trying to stoke a culture war and they have realised that they are on the wrong side”.
And the Labour leader told MPs: “Far from giving racism the red card, the prime minister gave it the green light.”
Mr Johnson announced new plans to ban those responsible for online racism from attending football matches and said he had warned social media companies on Tuesday of hefty fines for hosting racist comments which they will face under the government’s Online Harms Bill.
But he refused Starmer’s demand to express regret for his government’s approach to “taking the knee”, telling MPs: “I utterly condemn and abhor the racist outpourings that we saw on Sunday night.”
Mr Johnson also refused to apologise for earlier comments he made as a journalist, in which he described black Africans as “piccanninies with watermelon smiles”, telling SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford that the words had been taken out of context.
Senior Tory backbencher Steve Baker today warned the party needs urgently to rethink its approach to taking the knee, after England squad member Tyrone Mings accused Ms Patel of “stoking the fire” of racism by treating it as gesture politics.
And Sir Keir told the Commons today: “We can all see what’s happened here. The government has been trying to stoke a culture war and they’ve realised they’re on the wrong side and now they are hoping that nobody has noticed.
“Why else would a Conservative MP boast that he’s not watching his own team? Why else would another Conservative MP say that Marcus Rashford spends too much time playing politics, when he’s actually trying to feed the children that the government won’t? And why does the prime minister refuse time and time again – even now – to condemn those who are boo our players for standing up against racism?
“What is it that this England team symbolises that this Conservative Party is so afraid of?”
Starmer’s comments were interrupted at one point by a Tory MP shouting that Mings was a Labour member.
Mr Johnson denied that he was trying to engage in “culture wars” on issues like racism.
He insisted that the whole of the Commons was “united” in admiration for the England team, adding: “We stick up for them and what we’re doing is taking practical steps to fight racism – changing the football banning regime, fining the online companies, and we will use more legislation if we have to – just as we used the threat of legislation to stop the European Super League.
“I don’t want to engage in a political culture war of any kind, I want to get on with delivering for the people of this country.”
Mr Johnson insisted that the government had “made it absolutely clear that no-one should boo the England team”.
But Starmer produced newspaper reports showing that on 7 June the PM’s spokesperson said that ‘On taking the knee specifically, the prime minister is more focused on actions rather than gestures’ and that on 14 June Ms Patel described the practice as “gesture politics”.
“There’s no point pretending that these things weren’t said,” said the Labour leader.
And he added: “The England footballer Tyrone Mings… he said this labelling anti-racism messages as gesture politics served to stoke the fire of racism and hatred – Prime Minister they’re powerful words from someone who has himself been subjected to racist abuse. He’s right, isn’t he?”
The “worst kind of gesture politics” was the PM wearing a Three Lions jersey over his work shirt at the Euro 2020 final but being unwilling to condemn those who booed the England team, said Starmer.
Boris Johnson replied: “I want to reiterate my support, our support, our total support for our fantastic team and I support them in the way that they show solidarity with their friends who face racism.”
