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Boris Johnson says he would not take knee for Black Lives Matter as he ‘doesn’t believe in gestures’
THE Prime Minister has said people should not be "bullied" into taking a knee for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Boris Johnson admitted there are "injustices we need to rectify" but suggested he would not take a knee as he "doesn't believe in gestures".
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Speaking on an LBC radio phone-in, he expressed concern some police officers had been pressurised into doing so during protests in London following the death of George Floyd in the United States.
Mr Johnson said: "If you think of what happened with those officers standing at the Cenotaph...they were being insulted in quite aggressive terms by members of the crowd and told to take the knee.
"Some of them did and it was very difficult for the others who didn't. That's my position."
But the PM admitted he wanted to see better black representation at the top of the government.
He told LBC: "Of course we can do more and we will do more. We need to make progress and we will. I think about this a lot. It is something I want to get right. We need to reflect the country we serve."
After Mr Johnson suggested he wouldn't take the knee, Labour MP David Lammy responded: "Says the man who brandished a smoked kipper on stage in the Tory leadership hustings which led to him becoming Prime Minister."
Last month Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he would refuse to take a knee for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Asked if he would take the knee, Mr Raab was ridiculed when he replied: "I take the knee for two people: the Queen and the missus when I asked her to marry me."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously said he would take the knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
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Elsewhere in the phone-in, the PM declined to say how the Government would respond if the US authorities made an approach to interview the Duke of York.
He said: "No such approach has been made and otherwise it really is a matter for the royal family."
Mr Johnson also said gyms would be able to reopen in a "couple of weeks", and vowed to try to get theatres going "as fast as we possibly can".
Meanwhile he urged Brits to "enjoy summer sensibly" ahead of the easing of lockdown restrictions on Saturday.
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The PM said: "Tomorrow we come to step three of the plan that I set out on May 10, that everybody, I think, has understood, or huge numbers of people have understood and followed very carefully and very closely.
"And it's because people stuck to that plan that we're now able to carefully and cautiously open up hospitality tomorrow.
"And my message is really for people to enjoy summer sensibly and make sure that it all works."
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Dominic Raab says he wouldn't take the knee and thinks it is a symbol 'taken from game of thrones'