Minister decries Millwall fans who booed players for taking a knee

A government minister has condemned as “completely wrong” Millwall fans who booed players for taking a knee at the weekend, while saying this did not denote support for the political aims of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

The comments by James Cleverly, a Foreign Office minister who was formerly the Conservative party chair, contrast with the views of George Eustice, the environment secretary, who declined to criticise the Millwall fans’ behaviour.

Some of the 2,000 fans of the south London club, attending a home game for the first time this season, loudly booed the gesture, adopted by players in English football in solidarity with victims of racial injustice.

Asked about this on Sunday, Eustice said BLM was “a political movement that is different to what most of us believe in”, and did not condemn the booing.

But speaking on LBC Radio, Cleverly said the players were “acting in a way that demonstrates solidarity with those people fighting racism and those who have been the victims of racism. Booing that is completely wrong, I’m totally comfortable saying that.”

However, Cleverly added that he thought existing anti-racism campaigns in football, such as Kick It Out, should be given more exposure. “Actually there are some, some within the BLM movement, who are pushing a very extreme political agenda, certainly not all, and I don’t believe for a second any of the players on the pitch were reflecting that.

“But I do think that the booing was wrong and if people want to take the knee in solidarity with those fighting racism I completely understand that.”

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Millwall fans boo players taking the knee before Derby match – video

Eustice has faced some criticism for his refusal to condemn the fans. Asked about the incident, he said the BLM movement “is different to what most of us believe in, which is standing up for racial equality”.

Sanjay Bhandari, the chair of Kick It Out, said Eustice had made a “lazy conflation of taking a knee with a specific political movement” in his criticism of BLM.

He added: “Careless responses like this provide shelter to racists who oppose anti-racist gestures.”

But in another interview on Monday, with Times Radio, Cleverly said Eustice had been misinterpreted in some of what he said.

He added: “But, I would make it clear what they did was wrong, it was unnecessary. There were players showing solidarity with people who’ve been the victims of racism.”