A Conservative MP has responded to a Labour MP’s calls to apologise over his comments about the taking of the knee, writing humorously that she had won a “creative writing competition”.
Brendan Clarke-Smith, the Tory MP for Bassetlaw, has responded to a call from Labour MP Dawn Butler to apologise for his comments on taking the knee after he compared it to the Nazi salute.
Mr Clarke-Smith opposed the taking of the knee before England matches in a Facebook post. He argued that the taking of the knee was “inextricably linked” to the political Black Lives Matter organisation, which has been associated with the far-left. The organisation have advocated for socialism and the destruction of the nuclear family.
The MP wrote on Facebook: “Regardless of the insistence of Southgate and others that the players kneeling is nothing to do with the political movement, the fact that the brand has been displayed on their shirts and on our television screens has made it impossible to separate the two. They are now inextricably linked.”
Mr Clarke-Smith then compared the attempt to disassociate the taking of the knee with Black Lives Matter movement to the attempt to disassociate the Nazi salute from the endorsement of the regime. During a game between Germany and England in 1938, the England team had been encouraged to do the Nazi salute as a “formal gesture of courtesy” and not an endorsement of the regime.
He continued: “The point here is that regardless of the original intention, the mixing of politics and football had disastrous consequences. Symbolism means a lot, both in football and wider society, and we must think carefully about how it is used.”
The comparison between the Nazi salute and the taking of the knee led MP Dawn Butler to write a letter to Boris Johnson asking for an apology.
She called the comments “outrageous and wrong”, as well as deeply offensive. She wrote: “I am frankly surprised I even need to point it out, but taking the knee is not in any way comparable to making the Nazi salute.”
Ms Butler also condemned the Prime Minister for his failure to “directly condemn the football fans who booed players taking the knee”.
Mr Clarke-Smith replied on Twitter:
“Congratulations to @DawnButlerBrent who has won this month’s creative writing competition. She wins a Brendan Clarke-Smith ‘C’mon England’ Euro 2020 wallchart.”
