England's Tyrone Mings criticises Patel over racism response

England footballer Tyrone Mings has accused the home secretary of pretending to be disgusted by racist abuse, after she previously described taking the knee as "gesture politics".

Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were targeted after they missed penalties in the Euro 2020 final.

Priti Patel said she was "disgusted" by the online abuse directed at the trio.

Mings said she had "stoked the fire" by refusing to criticise fans who booed the England team for taking the knee.

Ms Patel declined to comment on his tweet, but Downing Street said the home secretary was "working every day to clamp down on hate crime, racism and violence".

Mings, who was a member of the England Euros squad, was angered by a perceived lack of action by the government when some fans booed the players taking the knee before the tournament.

The act of taking the knee has become a prominent symbol in sport and during anti-racist protests in recent years, and England players have been adopting the stance at the start of their matches.

Speaking to GB News about the England players' protest in June, Ms Patel said she did not "people participating in that type of gesture politics".

Asked if she would criticise fans who booed England players taking the knee she said: "That's a choice for them, quite frankly."

Writing on Twitter on Monday evening, Mings said: "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.".

Asked if Ms Patel was wrong to call taking the knee "gesture politics", Treasury minister Stephen Barclay told BBC Breakfast: "We need to respect people making their points in different ways."

Defending the home secretary, Downing Street added: "There is no place for racism in this country and she is backing the police to hold those responsible for this abuse able."

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had "full respect" for players who took the knee, adding that everyone should show respect to those who did so.

He said: "I think it's a perfectly acceptable way to show that solidarity. I wish more people would show respect in that way."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold a meeting with social media companies including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat later to discuss online abuse.

But former Premier League footballer Anton Ferdinand, himself a victim of racist abuse during his career, told the government to "sort your own house out" before going after social media platforms.

He said there was no point in the government talking about what it was planning to do when, as "the people that run this country", they are "not condemning" those that boo players taking the knee.

He added: "How can you not condemn that, but then come out and say it's about social media":[]}