A Leeds GP has called out Boris Johnson to address racist comments he has made in the past after he condemned racist attacks on England footballers.
Dr Amir Khan spoke on Lorraine this morning (Tuesday) about the comments made by the Prime Minister in the past.
Boris Johnson said Muslim women look like bank robbers and described them as “letterboxes” which resulted in a rise of hate crimes against Muslim women, said the GP.
READ MORE: Kalvin Phillips blasts racists as he issues emotional message for England teammates
In the past, he has also described Black people as “piccaninnies with watermelon smiles.” A piccaninny is an offensive slur used to describe a small black child.
The medical professional's appearance on the ITV programme comes after nationwide condemnation including from Boris Johnson and Priti Patel of the racist abuse faced by England stars Marcus Rashford, Jordan Sancho and Bukayo Saka following the Euro Final 2020 match on Sunday.
After the trio missed the penalty shots against Italy, they were faced with racist comments on social media.
Speaking on the ITV programme, the Leeds GP called for Boris Johnson to acknowledge the comments he has made in the past and “perhaps even apologise.”
He said: “Boris Johnson in the past has described Muslim women as letterboxes and bank robbers, on the back of that abused towards Muslim women similar to those women we just saw on screen, has gone up.
“He’s also described Black people as piccaninnies with watermelon smiles and that I’m sorry is unacceptable, and then to come out now and say you know, I condemn this racist abuse these footballers are facing. I’m all for people learning, I’m all for people going on a journey of becoming anti-racist but he has to then go back and acknowledge what's happened in the past, what he’s said in the past and perhaps even apologise for that.”
Yesterday, the Prime Minister was also slammed by former England player, Gary Neville who accused him of “promoting racism.”
England star Tyrone Mings also criticised Priti Patel for saying taking the knee against racism was “gesture politics”.
He tweeted: “You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.”
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