Don’t be bullied into taking the knee, says Boris

BORIS Johnson yesterday said people should not be bullied into taking the knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

He also insisted he believed in ‘substance’ not ‘gestures’ in dealing with prejudice and suggested he will appoint a black minister to his Cabinet.

The Prime Minister expressed concern that some police officers had been pressured into taking the knee during protests in London following the death of George Floyd in the United States.

‘I don’t want people to be bullied into doing things they don’t necessarily want to do,’ he said.

‘If you think of what happened with those police officers standing at the Cenotaph, where they were being insulted in quite aggressive terms by some members of the crowd and told to take the knee.

‘Some of them did and it was very difficult then for the others who didn’t. That’s my position.

‘I think it is very, very important that you don’t do things that make life difficult or embarrassing.’

Mr Johnson’s comments follow Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer being photographed kneeling in support for the anti-racism cause.

The Prime Minister told an LBC radio phone-in that he believed in practical action to tackle prejudice and discrimination.

‘I don’t believe in gestures, I believe in substance,’ he added. ‘I believe in doing things that make a practical difference. Of course, there are injustices that we need to rectify. There is prejudice. We need to fight it.’

Mr Johnson acknowledged that, while there were a number of a black and Asian ministers in the Government, there were just two in the Cabinet and neither is black. ‘Of course we can do more and we will... We need to reflect the country we serve,’ he added.