Downing Street has rejected accusations that Boris Johnson promoted racism by describing Muslim women as looking like “letterboxes” in a newspaper column.
The denial comes after r acist comments on social media aimed at the England Euros squad were widely condemned following the team's defeat to Italy on Sunday night.
Former England defender Gary Neville hit out at the prime minister, saying he was unsurprised by the racist abuse following Mr Johnson's response to players taking the knee before matches.
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Initially, the PM’s official spokesman declined to condemn individuals who booed England players, only going so far as urging them to be “respectful” in comments on June 7.
It was not until four days later that a No 10 spokesman toughened Downing Street’s response to say Mr Johnson wants fans to “cheer them on, not boo”.
Following last night's match, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka – who all missed penalties during the shoot-out – were all targeted by online trolls.
Mr Johnson condemned the racist abuse aimed at England football players after their defeat in the Euro 2020 final.
Boris Johnson said: “This England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media. Those responsible for this appalling abuse should be ashamed of themselves.”
But Mr Neville hit out at his leadership during the tournament.
He told Sky News: “I’m just reading your breaking news and it says the ‘PM condemns racist abuse of England players'.
“Gareth Southgate and the players a few weeks ago, about five days on the trot, told us they were taking the knee to promote equality and it was against racism.
“The PM said it was okay for the population of this country to boo those players who were trying to promote equality and defend against racism. It starts at the very top.
“I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that I woke up to those headlines; I expected it the minute that the three players that missed missed.”
He added: “When we get racist abuse after a football match at the end of a tournament, I expect it unfortunately because it exists, and it’s actually promoted by the Prime Minister, who called Muslim women letterboxes, said they look like letterboxes."
Responding to the former England footballer’s accusations that the prime minister 'promotes' racism, Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: “I would utterly reject that claim.
"The Prime Minister set out this morning his response to some of the awful comments that we’ve seen.”
Asked about allegation that Mr Johnson and other ministers suggested it was fine to boo players taking the knee, the spokesman said: “It’s not accurate.
“The Prime Minister was clear that he wanted to see everyone getting behind the team to cheer them on. He made that clear on the 11th, before England’s first game.”
Sir Keir Starmer also accused Mr Johnson of a failure of leadership for not calling out the booing of the England team over taking the knee sooner.
The Labour leader told reporters in Westminster: “It’s appalling. It’s absolutely appalling and it has to be called out in the strongest possible terms and condemned.
“This is about leadership, and I’m afraid the Prime Minister has 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.”
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