A Conservative MP has vowed to boycott England’s games in the European Championship over players’ decision to take the knee before matches.
Lee Anderson, the MP for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire, said that by taking the knee the England team was supporting a “political movement” and risked alienating “traditional supporters”.
“For the first time in my life I will not be watching my beloved England team whilst they are supporting a political movement whose core principles aim to undermine our very way of life,” he said in a Facebook post.
After players were booed for taking the knee before their match against Austria on Wednesday, the England manager, Gareth Southgate, said the team would continue to do so throughout the championship and were “more determined than ever”.
“We are very disappointed that it happened. We’re all trying to move towards equality and support our own teammates because of some of the experiences they’ve been through in their lives, but people decided to boo,” he said. “We’re totally committed to supporting each other, supporting the team, and we feel more than ever that we are determined to take the knee throughout this tournament.”
The players were again booed by a small number of the crowd as they took the knee ahead of their victory in a friendly against Romania on Sunday.
Anderson said the FA and England team had made “a big mistake” and “now run the risk of becoming like the Labour party and that is having nothing in common with their traditional supporters”.
“All forms of racism are vile and should be stamped out – but this is not the way,” he added.
When players took the knee before England’s pre-tournament friendly with Austria, boos were heard among the crowd at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium, although these were soon drowned out by cheers.
Ahead of England’s game against Romania on Sunday evening, the former England captain Gary Lineker said: “If you boo England players for taking the knee, you’re part of the reason why players are taking the knee.”
Earlier in the week, Southgate said it was down to a lack of understanding from fans. “I think we have got a situation where some people seem to think it is a political stand that they don’t agree with,” he said. “That’s not the reason the players are doing it. We are supporting each other.”
The Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who represents Bassetlaw in Nottinghamshire, said Southgate’s comments were “an insult to fans’ intelligence”.
“Fans understand perfectly well – they are just sick and tired of being preached and spoken down to. They are there to watch a football match, not to be lectured on morality,” he said. “Find something we can all support and ditch this ridiculous empty gesture.”
Others were said they were appalled to hear the booing. The Labour MP and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell described it as “sickening”.
“It was racism and should be called out,” he said on Twitter. “If supporting BLM [Black Lives Matter] is part of the culture war, then bring it on because you have to stand up against this new wave of racism.”