England footballer Tyrone Mings has castigated British Home Secretary Priti Patel for stoking the fire before pretending to be ‘disgusted’ by racism. Mings’ scathing response came after Patel pretended to express her disgust at online abuse aimed at England’s non-white players after they missed penalties.
In response to the online abuse, Patel had tweeted, ‘I am disgusted that @England players who have given so much for our country this summer have been subjected to racist abuse on social media. This has no place in our country and I support the police to hold those responsible to account’.
You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens. https://t.co/fdTKHsxTB2
— Tyrone Mings (@TyroneMings) July 12, 2021
However, not many were ready to believe Patel was sincere in her condemnation of the online abuse directed at Black English players. Mings attacked Patel on Twitter, writing, ‘You can’t fuel the fire at the start of the tournament by calling our anti-racism message ‘Gesture Politics’ and then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we oppose happens’.
Patel had previously told a broadcaster TV that she does not support ‘people who engage in this kind of gesture politics’ after some racist fans booed England’s players for taking a knee. Asked if she would criticize fans who booed England players for taking the knee, the controversial Home Secretary had said, ‘That’s a choice for them, quite frankly’.
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Three England players, namely Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho, faced online abuse because of their skin color after missing all their penalties in the European Championship final against Italy. A British MP had branded Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Patel as ‘incendiaries’ for allegedly fuelling the phenomenon of racism in the country. According to BBC, Patel has refused to comment on Mings’ scathing tweet.
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