Boris Johnson condemned the horrific racist abuse on social media directed at a number of England players after their defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. He called it “appalling” and said the England team deserve to be lauded as heroes, not racially abused on social media.
Frankly, his words ring hollow.
This is a prime minister who likened Muslim women who wear the burka to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers” and who declared Islam as “the problem”.
He failed to condemn fans who jeered England players taking the knee before kick off in a sign of protest against racism.
His Home Secretary Priti Patel went one step further and said she didn’t support “people participating in that type of gesture politics” and it was a “choice” for fans to decide whether to boo the England players.
So why should we be surprised at the deluge of racist messages that dominated social media after three black English players missed crucial penalties in Sunday’s final.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused both Johnson and Patel of giving “racists licence” and compared them to “arsonists complaining about a fire they poured petrol on”. She is totally right.
Johnson should have taken a leaf out of the England team’s book. Manager Gareth Southgate has repeatedly spoken out against racism and in favour of compassion and led England in taking the knee, despite knowing some supporters would jeer.
Team captain Harry Kane spelt it out to the racists in plain English: “if you abuse anyone on social media you’re not an England fan and we don’t want you,” he wrote. That is leadership.
Johnson epitomises the kind of populist politician spreading around the world, including Malta
Johnson epitomises the kind of populist politician spreading around the world, including Malta.
How many times have we heard politicians conveniently blaming those pesky foreigners who threaten to take away our jobs, our liberties and our security? Then why should we be surprised with the venom spewed on social media on Sunday night?
Cheap rhetoric grabs attention and spreads like wildfire on social media. But short-sighted politicians are not realising that they are sowing the seeds of division and hate which will come back to haunt them. Just look at attacks against Asian-Americans in the US as an example of how dog-whistling at the highest levels of government can quickly spiral out of control.
In Malta we have seen too many politicians talk about asylum seekers by using the kind of language that merely reduces them to inconvenient numbers.
Till this day, our prime minister flexes his muscles and says that his hardline tactics have slowed down boat arrivals without hardly ever talking about the human tragedies in our seas.
When COVID first hit us, our economy minister told foreign workers who lost their jobs they should leave because charity begins at home. It’s not just on the government side, either: the opposition leader pitches migration policy as something that must balance respect for human life with the need to “protect Maltese workers”, as though that is a zero-sum game. And the less said about his predecessor’s xenophobic statements, the better.
So why are we surprised that foreigners are often blamed for any ill under the Maltese sun? Why should we be surprised about the normalisation of hate speech on social media?
What Euro 2020 has taught us is that sometimes it is our unelected leaders who show the most leadership and consistency when speaking about important and uncomfortable issues. It is not elected politicians who stoke the fire without understanding the potential devastating consequences.
The British prime minister and other leaders would do well to take a leaf out of the England team’s playbook.