Labour has gone on the attack against Boris Johnson over Conservative attempts to stir up “culture wars” around race, as the prime minister refused to express regret for remarks that have been blamed for fuelling abuse of England’s Euro 2020 football stars.
In fiery exchanges in the House of Commons, Mr Johnson announced plans for match bans for those posting racial abuse online, in an apparent attempted to shore up the Tory position in the wake of England centre-back Tyrone Mings’s scathing attack on Priti Patel for “stoking the fires” of racism.
But he resisted repeated demands to disown the home secretary’s dismissal of players taking the knee as “gesture politics” or to admit that he was wrong before the tournament not to condemn those who booed the anti-racism protest.
After both the prime minister and home secretary voiced outrage at online racial abuse directed at penalty-takers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka following Sunday’s final against Italy, Sir Keir 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”.
The Labour leader read out pre-tournament news reports showing the PM and Ms Patel refusing to condemn booing fans, and told MPs: “Far from giving racism the red card, the prime minister gave it the green light.”
Recommended Medics urge public to stick to self-distancing and masks after ‘Freedom Day’ Boris Johnson could be hit by ‘pingdemic’ as Sajid Javid tests positive for Covid Pressure mounts for jabs for over-12s, as Delta variant tears through teenage population
Sir Keir’s broadside came as senior Tory backbencher Steve Baker warned the row over taking the knee should serve as a “wake-up call” that the party needed an urgent rethink of its attitudes.
One shadow cabinet minister told The Independent that the events of the past few days appeared to show the balance in the “culture wars” battle shifting, after Tories wielded arguments about taking the knee and statues to great effect to pull off a shock win in the Hartlepool by-election in May.
More recent by-elections in Chesham & Amersham and Batley & Spen had seen traditional Tory voters desert the party out of distaste at its rhetoric, the MP argued.
“In Hartlepool the Tories were sending round leaflets pointing out that Keir had taken the knee,” said the Labour frontbencher. “I don’t think they would do that again.
“No one believes that Raheem Sterling wants to bring down capitalism or defund the police. And our team was one of the most diverse you saw in the tournament.
“Now it doesn’t seem a good look to have suggested people boo them. Steve Baker’s seat is near Chesham & Amersham, I’m not surprised he is nervous as the voters are in a different place to the things the PM has been saying.”
Ms Patel came under fire for failing to turn up to a Commons debate called by Labour on the racial abuse faced by the England players, sending junior minister Victoria Atkins to answer questions in her place.
Atkins – who undermined her own praise of England manager Gareth Southgate by referring to him as the team’s “captain” – said her boss was instead hosting a “long-standing meeting with charities who are on the frontline of tackling violence against women and girls”.
But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner challenged her on Twitter: “Why are you too scared to take responsibility for your actions and apologise for stoking up the racism they’ve faced in recent days?”
At prime minister’s questions earlier, Sir Keir taunted Mr Johnson over his appearance at Wembley with an England shirt over his work clothes – which the Labour leader branded “the worst kind of gesture politics” – as well as Tory MP Lee Anderson’s boycott of the national team’s most successful campaign in 55 years in protest at them taking the knee.
Mr Johnson denied he had been trying to engage in “culture wars”.
But Mr Starmer asked: “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 boo our players for standing up against racism?
“What is it that this England team symbolises that this Conservative Party is so afraid of?”
UK news in pictures Show all 50
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures 16 July 2021 The sun rises behind the Sefton Park Palm House, in Sefton Park, Liverpool
PA
UK news in pictures 15 July 2021 Sir Nicholas Serota watches a short film about sea monsters as he opens a £7.6 million, 360 immersive dome at Devonport's Market Hall in Plymouth, which is the first of its type to be built in Europe
PA
UK news in pictures 14 July 2021 Heidi Street, playing a gothic character, looks at a brain suspended in glass at the world’s first attraction dedicated to the author of Frankenstein inside the ‘Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein’ experience, located in a Georgian terraced house in Bath, as it prepares to open to the public on 19 July
PA
UK news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rehearsals are held in a car park in Glasgow for a parade scene ahead of filming for what is thought to be the new Indiana Jones 5 movie starring Harrison Ford
PA
UK news in pictures 12 July 2021 A local resident puts love hearts and slogans on the plastic that covers offensive graffiti on the vandalised mural of Manchester United striker and England player Marcus Rashford on the wall of a cafe on Copson Street, Withington in Manchester
Getty Images
UK news in pictures 11 July 2021 England's Bukayo Saka with manager Gareth Southgate after the match
Pool via Reuters
UK news in pictures 10 July 2021 Australia’s Ashleigh Barty holds the trophy after winning her final Wimbledon match against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova
Reuters
UK news in pictures 9 July 2021 England 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst stands on top of a pod on the lastminute.com London Eye wearing a replica 1966 World Cup final kit and looking out towards Wembley Stadium in the north of the capital, where the England football team will play Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday
PA
UK news in pictures 8 July 2021 Karolina Pliskova celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka during the women's singles semifinals match on day ten of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London
AP
UK news in pictures 7 July 2021 The residents of Towfield Court in Feltham have transformed their estate with England flags for the Euro 2020 tournament
PA
UK news in pictures 6 July 2021 A couple are hit by a wave as they walk along the promenade in Dover, Kent, during strong winds
PA
UK news in pictures 5 July 2021 Alexander Zverev playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Court 1 on day seven of Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
PA
UK news in pictures 4 July 2021 Aaron Carty and the Beyoncé Experience perform on stage during UK Black Pride at The Roundhouse in London
Getty for UK Black Pride
UK news in pictures 3 July 2021 England’s Jordan Henderson celebrates after scoring his first international goal, his side’s fourth against Ukraine during the Euro 2020 quarter final match at the Olympic stadium in Rome
AP
UK news in pictures 2 July 2021 Dan Evans serves against Sebastian Korda during their men’s singles third round match at Wimbledon
Getty
UK news in pictures 1 July 2021 Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London
AP
UK news in pictures 30 June 2021 Dancers from the Billingham Festival and Balbir Singh Dance Company, during a preview for the The Two Fridas, UK Summer tour, presented by Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance in collaboration with Balbir Singh Dance Company, inspired by the life and times of female artists Frida Kahlo and Amrita Sher-Gil , which opens on July 10 at Ushaw Historic House, Chapel and Gardens in Durham
PA
UK news in pictures 29 June 2021 A boy kicks a soccer ball in front of the balconies and landings adorned with predominantly England flags at the Kirby housing estate in London
AP
UK news in pictures 28 June 2021 Emergency services attend a fire nearby the Elephant & Castle Rail Station in London
Getty
UK news in pictures 27 June 2021 People walk along Regent Street in central London during a #FreedomToDance march organised by Save Our Scene, in protest against the government’s perceived disregard for the live music industry throughout the coronavirus pandemic
PA
UK news in pictures 26 June 2021 A pair of marchers in a Trans Pride rally share a smile in Soho
Angela Christofilou/The Independent
UK news in pictures 25 June 2021 Tim Duckworth during the Long Jump in the decathlon during day one of the Muller British Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena
PA
UK news in pictures 24 June 2021 A member of staff poses with the work 'The Death of Cash' by XCopy at the 'CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art' auction at Bonhams auction house in London
EPA
UK news in pictures 23 June 2021 Bank of England Chief Cashier Sarah John displays the new 50-pound banknote at Daunt Books in London
Bank of England via Reuters
UK news in pictures 22 June 2021 Actor Isaac Hampstead Wright sits on the newly unveiled Game of Throne's "Iron Throne" statue, in Leicester Square, in London, Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The statue is the tenth to join the trail and commemorates 10 years since the TV show first aired, as well as in anticipation for HBO's release of House of the Dragon set to be released in 2022
AP
UK news in pictures 21 June 2021 Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon receives her second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 20 June 2021 Joyce Paton, from Peterhead, on one of the remaining snow patches on Meall a’Bhuiridh in Glencoe during the Midsummer Ski. The event, organised by the Glencoe Mountain Resort, is held every year on the weekend closest to the Summer Solstice
PA
UK news in pictures 19 June 2021 England appeal LBW during day four of their Women’s International Test match against India at the Bristol County Ground
PA
UK news in pictures 18 June 2021 Scotland fans let off flares in Leicester Square after Scotland's Euro 2020 match against England ended in a 0-0 draw
Getty
UK news in pictures 17 June 2021 Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 16 June 2021 A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 15 June 2021 Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre
PA
UK news in pictures 14 June 2021 Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park
Reuters
UK news in pictures 13 June 2021 Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring England’s first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley
Reuters
UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall
EPA
UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool
PA
UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall
AP
UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend
Tom Maddick / SWNS
UK news in pictures 8 June 2021
REUTERS
UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill
PA
UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset
Nick Lucas/SWNS
UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire
PA
UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London
PA
UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain
Reuters
UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021
AP
UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach
Reuters
UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach
AP
UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased
PA
UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London
REUTERS
Ms Rayner called for the suspension of a Tory MP who interrupted Sir Keir’s questions with a heckle claiming Mings had only criticised Ms Patel because he was a Labour member.
Mr Johnson declined Mr Starmer’s call to express regret for comments about taking the knew, but told MPs: “I utterly condemn and abhor the racist outpourings that we saw on Sunday night.”
He claimed the government had “made it absolutely clear” that no one should boo the England team, and insisted that the whole of the Commons was “united” in admiration for them.
Downing Street later said that the extension of the football banning order regime to cover online racism would be implement through the upcoming Online Safety Bill following a rapid 12-week consultation with football authorities and social media companies.
The Premier League is understood to support the move, having agreed at its annual general meeting last month to extend league-wide any sanction imposed by a single club on a supporter for discriminatory or otherwise abusive behaviour.
Banning orders allow magistrates to prohibit individuals from attending all regulated matches in the UK if they are convicted of relevant offences for between three and 10 years, but do not currently cover online abuse.