Priti Patel Condemns Black Lives Matter Protests As ‘Dreadful’

Priti Patel has branded Black Lives Matter protests as ‘dreadful’ and criticised sports stars who ‘take the knee’.

When asked if she herself would ever kneel in protest, the Secretary of State said, ‘No I would not. There are other ways in which people can express their opinions.’

Patel went on to tell say last year’s protests were ‘dreadful,’ adding, ‘Protesting in the way which people did last summer was not the right way at all’.

We saw statues being brought down and some councils making, quite frankly, a stance around statues and street names. There are other ways in which those discussions can take place and, also, quite frankly I didn’t support that attempt to re-write history. I felt that that was wrong.

Patel was also asked about Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, Dame Cressida Dick, who has recently faced backlash for her handling of a VIP sex abuse investigation that she set up six years ago.

I work with the Commissioner. The Commissioner does a lot of great work and she oversees the largest police force in the country.

There are still questions [about the investigation], rightly so, some questions have been put to me today actually, very publicly in newspapers, and it’s right that I also look at these questions.

While appearing on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan asked Patel, ‘Can you explain to me why we have the worst death rate in the world?’

Patel, who has overall responsibility for the Home Office’s response to COVID-19, failed to provide a straight explanation when asked to discuss why the UK has the worst death rate in the world, stating, ‘I don’t think there is one single factor or cause as to why so many people have died in the United Kingdom and why we’ve seen so much in terms of pressures on the NHS.’