Outrage as Tory MP suggests Black Lives Matter protest could cause a second wave of coronavirus

A Tory MP has faced severe backlash after he suggested that people attending a Black Lives Matter protest in London could cause a second wave in the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday, Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton in North Yorkshire, tweeted a picture of protestors gathered in Trafalgar Square to protest the death of George Floyd who was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Hollinrake, rather than lend his voice to the protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, suggested that by failing to social distance this type of gathering could cause coronavirus cases to sky rocket again.

Hollinrake has since been strongly condemned for his tweet which ignored the fact that many people in the picture are wearing face masks.

It also disregards the many pictures that have been shared of hundreds of people gathering on beaches across the nation which are an equally big a contribution to the pandemic but are gatherings without meaning or purpose behind them.

The tweet was also posted the day before the government reopened primary schools across the country and started to ease certain lockdown measures, once again without a vaccine and only 'confusing' guidance in place to protect people from coronavirus, a disease that has disproportionately affected the BAME community.

Let's not forget that Dominic Cummings who travelled 260 miles while having coronavirus symptoms still has a job within the government.

Labour MP Dawn Butler also responded to Hollinrake and appeared lost for words.

More protests are expected to take place in London this week. It remains to be seen whether there will be any further blame on protestors for the spread of coronavirus.

Speaking to Indy100, Hollinrake said in response to the criticism:

I am one hundred percent behind the campaign for justice against racism. However, it is incumbent on all of us to take responsibility for our actions in any situation whether we are on a beach or taking part in a protest and we must follow the social distancing guidelines. I have said this many times over the past few months.