Steve Baker said that taking the knee is not 'a neo Marxist act'

Steve Baker has defended footballers who take the knee and people are surprised.

Speaking at an event at the Tory party conference, the Tory MP said that those who kneel at the start of matches, as a symbol against racism, were not "neo Marxist ideologues" and should have people's support.

"People understand that footballers taking the knee are not neo Marxist ideologues, they're people who are saying 'no I won't have racism. No I won't allow my friends to suffer racism,'" he said.

He added that the new 2022 Group for Black Conservatives was about "us as equals having equal opportunity, being friends together".

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Baker has defended taking the knee in the past. After Black footballers said they received racist abuse after the Euro 2020 finals last year, the MP wrote a message to MPs on the Conservatives Against Racism, For Equality group.

He said:

"Much as we can’t be associated with calls to defund the police, we urgently need to challenge our own attitude to people taking a knee.

“I fear we are in danger of misrepresenting our own heart for those who suffer injustice."

Nevertheless people were surprised to hear him express these sentiments as his views are often on the right of the party:

Mercury isn't even in retrograde anymore so we don't know what to tell you.

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