Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier says he will ‘review’ wearing a Black Lives Matter badge
Sky Sports pundit Matt Le Tissier will ‘review’ wearing Black Lives Matter badge on TV because of group’s ‘far left ideology’ while black ex-footballer Karl Henry says ‘new inclusive politically neutral anti-racism movement is needed’
- Matt Le Tissier has spoken to Sky Sports about Black Lives Matter badges
- The pundit is said to be ‘reviewing’ wearing it over the movement’s policies
- It has adopted the slogan ‘defund the police’, which has caused controversy
- Former Wolves player Karl Henry has also criticised the UK organisation
- He questioned it trying to abolish capitalism and stop money going to the police
By Oli Gamp and Dan Sales For Mailonline
Published: 04:06 EDT, 30 June 2020 | Updated: 08:16 EDT, 30 June 2020
Sky Sports star Matt Le Tissier could stop wearing his Black Lives Matter badge over the UK movement’s ‘far-left ideology’ – as black footballer Karl Henry branded the group ‘divisive’.
Southampton player-turned-pundit Le Tissier, 51, joined former Wolves midfielder Henry, 37, to question the group’s objectives after its plans to stop capitalism and police funding emerged.
They are the only high-profile voices in football so far to raise concerns about the UK arm, which has protested over the killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in the US.
The sport has completely embraced the movement, with players taking the knee before Premier League and Championship matches kicked off.
But the past few days has seen the group embroiled in an anti-Semitism row and criticism of its ‘defund the police’ agenda.
Presenters and guests on Sky Sports have worn BLM badges when appearing on programmes, but now Le Tissier says he has held talks with his bosses about this.
Meanwhile Henry has called for a ‘new inclusive and politically-neutral anti-racism movement’ after savaging the UK group online.
Matt Le Tissier says he is reviewing the use of Black Lives Matter badges on Sky Sports
Karl Henry spoke out against Black Lives Matter UK over their anti-capitalism and stance on trying to abolish the police (pictured her playing for Bolton in 2018)
Far-left aims and anti-Semitic criticism of Black Lives Matter UK
Black Lives Matter UK is the semi-official British offshoot of its American counterpart and has been the face of the UK’s protests over George Floyd’s death and racial equailty.
But while hundreds of thousands of people have donated millions to their cause, they may have been unaware on how the money could be spent.
Unlike the American arm the UK branch has a number of far-Left aims listed on its website, among the plans to tackle and stamp out racism.
They include the Marxist desire to fund and action ‘a commitment to dismantle capitalism’
Elsewhere the UK branch says it wants to use money it has raised to develop and deliver strategies to ‘for the abolition of the police’.
The official Twitter account of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) UK movement has also been caught up in an antisemitism row.
It tweeted in support of Palestine over plans by Israel to annex its West Bank settlements.
The verified account claimed mainstream British politics were being ‘gagged of the right to critique Zionism,’ before Tweeting that the movement ‘loudly and clearly stands beside our Palestinian comrades’ and adding in block capitals ‘FREE PALESTINE’.
It sparked outrage among the Jewish community, with some describing the idea of politicians being ‘gagged’ over their criticism of Zionism as being an ‘antisemitic trope’.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: “BLM should aspire to be a movement against racism that unifies people and achieves lasting change, not a movement that spreads hatred and achieves lasting division.
‘You cannot fight prejudice with prejudice.’
The group has been active online since mid-2016 and has also targeted other unusual causes.
In December that year it endorsed the complete closure of all Britain’s prisons and detention centres, saying they were ‘inhumane, overcrowded and unsafe’
The group has also expressed its opposition on Twitter to government initiatives including reform of the benefits system via the introduction of Universal Credit and the licensing of fracking.
It has attacked everyone from Oxfam (‘big charities are nothing more than colonisers for the 21st century’) to Sir David Attenborough.
The group accused an episode of his 2018 TV series Dynasties, on chimpanzees, of being racist because the BBC naturalist complained that habitat destruction due to overpopulation was threatening the species with extinction.
‘Human activities can obviously compete with wildlife,’ the anomymous BLM Tweeter opined. ‘But “too many people” always has a silent “black”.’
In response, the channel said the pundit had approached them about wearing one as a ‘discussion point’ and no-one was obliged to wear the logo.
The Southampton legend and former England international replied to a tweet accusing him of ‘promoting a far-left ideology’ and said he had spoken with Sky Sports chiefs about the matter.
Le Tissier is one of football’s most popular pundits after a glittering career at Southampton and was voted the greatest Premier League player of all time in a Eurosport poll.
He kicked off the debate by urging his followers to remove him on Twitter if they were from the ‘far right or far left’.
‘Morning peeps, polite request, if you’re far right or far left do me and yourselves a favour and unfollow me, it’ll be good for yours and our mental health as I couldn’t give 2 hoots how many followers I have I won’t be offended.’
One Twitter user replied: ‘If you are central Matt why wear a badge promoting a far left ideology?’
The 51-year-old wrote back: ‘That’s a good point and one which I’ve made to my boss already.’
Another said: ‘Maybe you should review your BLM badge wearing’, to which he responded: ‘I am reviewing’.
There has been plenty of reaction and debate following Le Tissier’s tweet, with another user saying he ‘hated this badging of the left and right’.
And one replied telling him ‘that BLM badge is a bit dodgy’.
There has been plenty of reaction and debate following Le Tissier’s tweet, with another user saying he ‘hated this badging of the left and right’.
And one replied telling him ‘that BLM badge is a bit dodgy’.
Former Wolves, Stoke City, QPR, Bolton and Bradford City professional footballer Karl Henry has also raised concerns about the aims of the branch.
Mr Henry tweeted yesterday: ‘I think the majority of the UK have now had enough of that organisation.
‘A new inclusive and politically-neutral anti-racism movement to follow and get behind is much needed. Black people’s lives matter!
‘The divisive #BlackLivesMatter organisation, however, DOES NOT.’
Black Lives Matter encourage the slogan #DefundThePolice amid outcry over alleged violence by police towards black people, saying they ‘call for an end to the systemic racism that allows this culture of corruption to go unchecked and our lives to be taken’.
In further remarks he took aim at some of the UK group’s far-left policies
He added: ‘Let’s just look at Capitalism, which #BlackLivesMatterUK want to abolish.
‘It does NOT favour white people. It is not the enemy of the black community.
‘Capitalism allows free enterprise and entrepreneurialism. If other communities can flourish under capitalism, so can we!’
Speaking about their views on the police on the Black Lives Matter website, the movement says Floyd’s death was a ‘breaking point’ and ‘a reminder that, for black people, law enforcement doesn’t protect or save our lives. They often threaten and take them’.
Instead, they have called for ‘a national defunding of police’, asking for ‘investment in our communities and the resources to ensure Black people not only survive, but thrive’.
Le Tissier appeared to echo tweets by former Wolves player Karl Henry who said he thought the public had tired of the Black Lives Matter UK organisation
But there is a growing chorus of voices who want to know exactly who is behind the group.
Last week they posted a statement on various social media feeds, promising soon to ‘create a website’ that would ‘ease any confusion around which of the many Black Lives Matter organisations and platforms that have emerged is actually us’.
The statement also promised its spending ‘will be made public in the spirit of transparency and accountability in due course’. As to who is behind the organisation, it claimed its leaders were busy dealing with ‘emergency legal matters’ and ‘the hostility of far-Right groups’ which represent ‘a genuine threat to our safety’.
Yesterday it seemed to be trying to row back on its police money remarks, tweeting a post at odds with its own published aims.
It said: ‘When we say “Defund the police” we mean Invest in programmes that actually keep us safe like youth services, mental health and social care, education, jobs and housing. Key services to support the most vulnerable before they come into contact with the criminal justice system.’
Sky Sports said Le Tissier had approached them about wearing a Black Lives Matter badge ‘as a discussion point’ and the former midfielder was told he was not obliged to wear one.
