British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab criticises BLM ‘taking a knee’ symbol

Dominic Raab says the symbolic act is ‘subjugation ... something from Game of Thrones’.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab. Picture: AFP

Britain’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab has faced criticism from his political rivals for claiming taking the knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement was “a symbol of subjugation and subordination rather than one of liberation and emancipation”.

Mr Raab said taking the knee was something out of the television show Game of Thrones, and instead he only took the knee for two people.

“I take the knee for two people, the Queen and the missus when I asked her to marry me,” he said.

Mr Raab’s comments, made to TalkRadio on Thursday, have sparked a political backlash and social media furore, although large numbers of reader comments in the press appeared to support his statements.

Taking the knee has been adopted by protesters at Black Lives Matter rallies throughout the world.

To be clear: I have full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement, and the issues driving them. If people wish to take a knee, that’s their choice and I respect it. We all need to come together to tackle any discrimination and social injustice.

— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) June 18, 2020

On Wednesday night, during the start of the Premier League after a 100-day coronavirus pause of football, players and officials all took the knee and wore Black Lives Matter across the back of their shirts.

Mr Raab said in the interview: “I understand this sense of frustration and restlessness which is driving the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I’ve got to say on this taking the knee thing – I don’t know, maybe it’s got a broader history but it seems to me to be taken from the Game of Thrones – feels to me like a symbol of subjugation and subordination rather than one of liberation and emancipation.

“But I understand people feel differently about it so it’s a matter of personal choice.”

Protesters take a knee during a Black Lives Matter protest in London’s Trafalgar Square. Picture: AFP

He later tweeted: “To be clear: I have full respect for the Black Lives Matter movement, and the issues driving them. If people wish to take a knee, that’s their choice and I respect it. We all need to come together to tackle any discrimination and social injustice.”

In 2016 American NFL player Colin Kaepernick, from the San Francisco 49ers, was the first sportsperson to kneel for the US national anthem to protest against police brutality and oppression of black people.

At the time he said: “I am not going to get up to show pride in a country that oppresses black people and people of colour.

“To me, this is bigger than football, and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones. Picture: HBO

There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

While Game of Thrones rulers demand rivals bend the knee, Labour’s Diane Abbott mocked Mr Raab for not knowing the sporting origins of the protest and Labour shadow justice secretary, David Lammy, said Mr Raab’s remarks were insulting and deeply embarrassing.

Earlier this month Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, had tweeted a photograph of himself taking the knee alongside deputy Angela Rayner, in Parliament to support all those opposing anti-Black racism.

But Tory MP Ben Bradley said “Dom was bang on the money”. He added: “Equality doesn’t require one group to kneel for others! That’s just a different form of discrimination. We live in a largely tolerant and respectful country, where we want to see fairness for all.”