LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he does not believe in gestures and people should not be bullied into doing things they don’t want to do, when asked on Friday whether he would ‘take the knee’, an act used by some to protest against racism.
The position was first taken by National Football League player Colin Kaepernick during the playing of the U.S. national anthem to call attention to racial injustice, and has been adopted by others since.
“I don’t believe in gestures, I believe in substance,” Johnson told LBC radio.
“I don’t want people to be bullied into doing things that they don’t necessarily want to do,” he said.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; writing by Costas Pitas; editing by Michael Holden)
