British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Home Secretary Priti Patel have been accused of hypocrisy after condemning racist abuse directed at three black English football players, with critics pointing to their previous comments about racism.
English players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka have been subjected to a barrage of racist abuse online since they missed penalties in the team's shootout loss to Italy in the European Championship final on Sunday.
Mr Johnson said those responsible for the abuse, "should be ashamed of themselves”.
"Shame on you - I hope you will crawl back under the rock from which you emerged,” he told the online abusers.
That itself prompted accusations of hypocrisy against Mr Johnson, with many online pointing to his previous failures to condemn fans who booed players who took the knee.
The same accusation was made against Ms Patel, after she said she was “disgusted” that English players who had given so much for the country had been subject to “vile racist abuse on social media”.
Ms Patel has previously branded the act of taking the knee as “gesture politics” and said it was fans’ choice whether they wanted to boo players.
English footballer Tyrone Mings accused the home secretary of “stoking the fire”.
"You don't get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as 'Gesture Politics' and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we're campaigning against, happens," he tweeted.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson had failed the test of leadership in not condemning fans who booed England players taking the knee.
“The prime minister failed to call that out and the actions and inactions of leaders have consequences, so I'm afraid the prime minister's words today ring hollow,” he said.
His deputy Angela Rayner was even more scathing, saying both the prime minister and Ms Patel were “total hypocrites” who gave “licence” to racists who booed the footballers.
She compared the pair to “arsonists complaining about a fire they poured petrol on”.
One of the players, Manchester United’s Rashford, took to social media to address the abuse he’d faced.
He said as a footballer he expected to “read things about myself”.
"Whether it be the colour of my skin, where I grew up, or, most recently, how I decide to spend my time off the pitch.
"I can take critique of my performance all day long, my penalty was not good enough, it should have gone in but I will never apologise for who I am and where I came from."
England captain Harry Kane issued a condemnation of those who’d abused the trio.
"If you abuse anyone on social media you're not an @England fan and we don't want you,” he tweeted.
