Sir Keir Starmer has accused the government of having tried “to stoke a culture war” and realising it is “on the wrong side” during a fiery session of PMQs in the aftermath of the Euro 2020 final.
With the Conservatives Against Racism For Equality (CARFE) group’s co-founder Albie Amonkona, having warned that MPs’ actions may have “laid the foundations” for the racist abuse experienced by England players after the match, Steve Baker urged all of his Tory colleagues to urgently “challenge” their attitude towards taking the knee in an expression of solidarity against racism.
The influential Tory MP suggested such criticisms were “a wake-up call to the Conservative Party of just how powerful our words are when navigating these issues”.
It came as a damning Runnymede Trust report warned that Boris Johnson’s government is in breach of a UN treaty designed to eradicate racial discrimination, with ministers’ new approach to equalities possibly set to “worsen” disparities faced by ethnic-minority groups across health, the criminal justice system, education, employment and immigration in England.
