A Tory MP has called on the Conservative Party to ‘urgently’ change its attitude to people taking the knee.
Former minister and self-styled ‘Brexit hardman’ Steve Baker said the party is at risk of ‘misrepresenting our own heart for those who suffer injustice’ if attitudes on the Black Lives Matter protest act don’t change.
Mr Baker insisted taking the knee is not ‘anti-capitalist’, nor are players asking to ‘defund the police’.
He made the comments after three black England football players received sickening racist abuse following their side’s defeat in the Euros final on Sunday.
Priti Patel blasted online trolls, but was swiftly accused of hypocrisy over comments she made calling taking the knee ‘gesture politics’.
The Home Secretary also backed supporters who booed players for taking part in the demonstration – which several teams carried out prior to their Euros clashes this year.
Mr Baker told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘It is a wake-up call to the Conservative Party of just how powerful our words are when we navigate these issues.
‘We have to get alongside those players who are taking the knee and understand they are not saying defund the police, they are not anti-capitalist.
‘What they are doing is saying “we suffer racism”.’
Former minister and self-styled ‘Brexit hardman’ Steve Baker said the party is at risk of ‘misrepresenting our own heart for those who suffer injustice’ if attitudes on the Black Lives Matter protest act don’t change
Mr Baker insisted taking the knee (pictured) is not ‘anti-capitalist’, nor are players asking to ‘defund the police’
Priti Patel blasted online trolls, but was swiftly accused of hypocrisy over comments she made blasting taking the knee as ‘gesture politics’
The MP was addressing a message he sent to the Conservatives Against Racism, For Equality group, first reported in The Guardian.
It read: ‘This may be a decisive moment for our party.
‘Much as we can’t be associated with calls to defund the police, we urgently need to challenge our own attitude to people taking a knee.
‘I fear we are in danger of misrepresenting our own heart for those who suffer injustice.’
The Home Secretary earlier dismissed the stance of England players in taking the knee in the fight for racial equality.
‘I just don’t support people participating in that type of gesture politics,’ Ms Patel said in an interview with GB News.
Asked whether England fans had a right to boo their national team, she said: ‘That’s a choice for them quite frankly. I’ve not gone to a football match to even contemplate that.’
England star Tyrone Mings (pictured taking the knee during a friendly against Romania in June) said the Home Secretary had ‘no right’ to condemn the barrage of online racist abuse against fellow stars Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties in Sunday night’s heartbreaking Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy
Prior to the tournament, the Home Secretary had said she ‘did not support’ those engaging in ‘that type of gesture politics’ when asked if she supported stars taking the knee
Mr Baker today said he was not going to criticise Ms Patel, adding: ‘It is one thing to boo the referee with a marginal decision, but it is another to boo brave, black players who are saying no to racism and bravely going out on the field to take a knee and say we are expressing our solidarity with those who are suffering racism.’
He said ‘gestures are extremely powerful’ and added: ‘What I am saying to my colleagues is that we have to confront the reality of how we are sometimes heard, even by people on our own side.’
Downing Street last night scrambled to head off speculation that plans for a reception for the England team had been shelved due to the ongoing race row.
Questions were asked after it emerged there are no plans for the PM to host an event to honour Gareth Southgate’s team after reaching the final.
Both Mr Johnson and Ms Patel took to social media to condemn mindless social media morons who bombarded Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho with abuse after the Wembley heartbreak.
No10 tried to sweep away the issue tonight by insisting that the Football Association had informed the government they did not want an immediate reception.
A Downing Street spokesman said: ‘The PM would have been delighted and honoured to host a reception for the England squad to mark their outstanding performance in the European championship.
‘However No10 was informed prior to Sunday’s game that the FA’s preference was not for an immediate reception in the event England were to lose.
‘We continue to discuss suitable ways for the PM to thank the squad and coaching staff for their heroic efforts throughout the tournament.’
Sources insisted a similar situation had arisen after the 2018 World Cup when the England team did not want to be honoured for losing in the semi-final.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson was forced to defend his Home Secretary after she was accused of ‘stoking the fire’ with her pre-tournament criticism of players who take the knee.
Three Lions and Aston Villa defender Tyron Mings took aim at the embattled Home Secretary, saying she had ‘no right’ to condemn the barrage of online racist abuse against fellow stars Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka.
Downing Street has spent the past couple of days saying it is still speaking to the FA about the best way to mark the team’s achievement of reaching a major final for the first time in 55 years.
A one-off bank holiday has been ruled out but The Guardian reported that No10 has decided against having the team come to Downing Street for a publicised meeting with the Prime Minister.
The ranks of those criticising the Home Secretary expanded to include the former Tory defence minister Johnny Mercer, who said that Mings was ‘completely right’.
But Mr Johnson’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘The Home Secretary is working every day to clamp down on hate crime, racism and violence.
‘There is no place for racism in this country and she is backing the police to hold those responsible for this abuse accountable.’
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today addressed the Government’s reaction to the racist abuse suffered by players.
He told Sky News: ‘We are absolutely united as a Government – and I hope as a country as well – in booting out racism. We abhor it.
‘As a Cabinet were are more ethnically diverse, I think, than any in history. I think we are more representative of the country in that regard. It is a good thing.
‘I hope we can move on rather united on this issue because who wants to live in a racist country? Not me.’
Mr Shapps defended the Home Secretary, saying: ‘I thought the comments about Priti Patel were unusual or odd.
‘Priti Patel has spoken very movingly in the House of Commons about her own experience and suffering from racism.’
Speaking on the Today programme, he added: ‘It should be enough to say that everybody believes that racism is abhorrent.’
Mr Shapps said Ms Patel has spoken ‘movingly’ about her own experience of racism, and told the programme: ‘People should be at liberty to show their disgust against discrimination in whatever form they want.
‘I thought the country absolutely got behind our footballers in doing that. I think it is hugely sad to see some of the online abuse and other things that the Prime Minister was very proactive in tackling.’
He said an Online Harms Bill is being introduced which would allow the fining of social media companies that allow racist abuse, for up to 10% of their global income.
He added: ‘They will need to get this sorted out.’
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford last night said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the actions of football fans who left supportive messages on his Manchester mural after it was defaced with ‘racist graffiti’.
The England star, 23, took to Instagram to share his thanks after fans rushed to cover the offensive messages by placing letters of support across the mural, which is painted on the wall of the Coffee House Cafe in Rashford’s home town of Withington.
Sharing pictures of the kindly-worded letters, the Three Lions forward said: ‘Overwhelmed. Thankful. Lost for words.’
The Premier League star also included images of hundreds of anti-racism campaigners who took the knee in front of the mural last night.
Stand Up To Racism held a demonstration at the mural to show solidarity with Rashford after he was racially abused by online trolls.
Members of the group were seen holding aloft signs with ‘Black Lives Matter‘ and ‘No Justice No Peace’ at the anti-racism demonstration.
Crowds also joined in with a protester chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ on a megaphone.
Family friends of Rashford, including his ‘aunties’ and godmother, Norma Morgan, Fay Banton and Carol Wright, were among the 300-strong crowd.
Ms Banton told the Guardian: ‘He (Rashford) would love it. At this point in time, he’s so low.’
Anti-racism campaigners last night took the knee in front of the Marcus Rashford mural after it was defaced by vandals after England’s defeat to Italy on Sunday night
Stand Up To Racism yesterday demonstrating at the mural after Rashford was racially abused online following England’s defeat
Rashford’s mural was also defaced in what is being investigated by police as a possible ‘hate crime‘, with derogatory comments about the forward, including the words ‘sh**e’ and ‘b*****d’.
Further graffiti said ‘f**k Sancho’ in reference to Three Lions teammate Sancho who also missed a penalty during the shoot-out.
The mural has since been repaired and is now covered in messages of support from England fans, who have left notes, flags and shirts on the wall in solidarity with the footballer.
‘We get this stream of utter bile every match…we can’t be seen as complicit’: Facebook employees say bosses ‘must act faster’ as Boris Johnson holds showdown with social media firms demanding they ‘up their game’ after racists abused Euro stars
By Isabella Nikolic For Mailonline
Facebook employees have said that their bosses must act faster in the wake of the deluge of racist abuse thrown at England footballers after the Euro 2020 final.
The comments come as Boris Johnson is set to hold a showdown with social media firms today demanding they ‘up their game’ over the racist abuse.
According to a senior technology reporter at Buzzfeed, Ryan Mac, the employees believe the racist comments were ‘totally preventable’ and are questioning what the company will do ahead of the World Cup 2022.
The employees said that the most racism came in the form of anonymous Instagram accounts commenting emojis of monkeys and gorillas underneath posts of black footballers Jodan Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka after the trio missed their penalties at the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
And there was such a high volume of racist comments for employees to report that one has had their account limited and they are unable to report anymore.
One internal comment seen by Mr Mac read: ‘We get this stream of utter bile every match, and it’s even worse when someone black misses… We really can’t be seen as complicit in this.’
Facebook has opened an internal investigation into the handling of the racist abuse suffered by players on their Instagram pages.
And Downing Street has said the PM will use the meeting this afternoon to ‘reiterate the urgent need for action’ after the vile trolling.
Mr Johnson told Cabinet earlier that the racists who targeted Three Lions stars online had emerged from ‘the darkest recesses of the Internet’.
Ministers are pressing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to help in hunting down those responsible so they can ‘make an example’ of them.
Ministers want social media giants to help in hunting down the online trolls who targeted England’s football stars with vile racist abuse
The premier’s spokesman said: ‘We expect social media firms to do everything they can to identify these people.’
Representatives from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, Microsoft and Amazon Kids UK are taking part in the meeting, which was apparently in the diary before the row erupted.
Twitter says it has since banned more than 1,000 posts following a flurry of abusive messages aimed at England stars.
Facebook, which owns Instagram, also described the online attacks as ‘abhorrent’ and said its team were working to remove the comments.
But Government is pushing social media companies to hand over details of abusive users to the authorities in a ‘more timely manner’.
England defender Harry Maguire and Love Island presenter Laura Whitmore are among the high-profile figures who have called for ID to be required when opening a social media account.
Facebook, which owns Instagram (pictured: Library image), described the online attacks as ‘abhorrent’ and said its team were working to remove the comments
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden (pictured) yesterday called on social media companies to ‘up their game’ when it comes to tackling abuse
‘We want real-life consequences for the people who are tweeting this abuse,’ a source told the Times.
‘We need to find out who these people are and make examples of them. This is not beyond their (social media firms’) capabilities.’
It comes after players including Saka, who is just 19 years old, were targeted with a torrent of racial abuse after England’s heartbreaking defeat at Wembley.
The Arsenal star looked visibly distraught after missing the decisive penalty on Sunday night and was comforted by senior England players such as Harry Kane and manager Gareth Southgate.
But after the game finished, social media users targeted the young star, who is black, with monkey emojis. Another wrote: ‘Hate you’.
Twitter yesterday revealed how it has removed more than 1,000 racist posts targeting England football stars following the defeat.
A spokesperson for the social media site said: ‘The abhorrent racist abuse directed at England players last night has absolutely no place on Twitter.
‘In the past 24 hours, through a combination of machine learning based automation and human review, we have swiftly removed over 1,000 Tweets and permanently suspended a number of accounts for violating our rules – the vast majority of which we detected ourselves proactively using technology.
‘We will continue to take action when we identify any Tweets or accounts that violate our policies.
‘We have proactively engaged and continue to collaborate with our partners across the football community to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively and will continue to play our part in curbing this unacceptable behaviour – both online and offline.’
Facebook meanwhile told MailOnline: ‘No one should have to experience racist abuse anywhere, and we don’t want it on Instagram.
‘We quickly removed comments and accounts directing abuse at England’s footballers last night and we’ll continue to take action against those that break our rules.
‘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.’
Despite the strong words, the social media sites faced pressure to get a grip on racist abuse or face punitive action in the wake of sickening abuse aimed at black England footballers.
Royalty, leading politicians including the Prime Minister and even the Archbishop of Canterbury slammed trolls who targeted stars such as Rashford, Sancho and Saka after last night’s Euro 2020 heartbreak.
Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: ‘The Government needs to get on with legislating the tech giants’
Police are now investigating but social media firms have come under pressure to take swifter and more decisive action against offenders.
Julian Knight, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said: ‘The racist abuse of England players online is repellent and vile.
‘Perpetrators should be getting a knock on the door from the police and facing the full force of the law.
‘Social media companies once alerted to this abuse have an acute responsibility to immediately take it down.
‘The Government needs to get on with legislating the tech giants. Enough of the foot dragging, all those who suffer at the hand of racists, not just England players, deserve better protections now.’
A mural honouring England star Marcus Rashford was vandalised less than an hour after last night’s Euro 2020 final defeat
Marcus Rashford, left, and Jadon Sancho have their heads in their hands after missing their kicks
One user wrote under the latest Instagram picture of Saka (pictured), 19: ‘Go back to Nigeria.’ While another said: ‘Get out my country’
England’s Kalvin Phillips embraces a member of the England staff and Mason Mount waves as the team prepare to head to their homes after a month in their team bubble