LONDON (Bywire News) - A Conservative Party MP has compared taking the knee to being forced to do the Nazi salute in support of Adolf Hitler.
Writing on Facebook, the Tory MP for Bassetlaw, Brendan Clarke-Smith, posted a 17-paragraph diatribe harking back to the infamous 1938 International Friendly between England and Germany in Berlin, where the English players were forced to conduct the Nazi salute.
Clarke-Smith's controversial comparison comes after a tiny minority of England supporters booed players making the anti-racist gesture before two international friendlies at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough - against Austria on Wednesday, and against Romania on Sunday.
In his post, Clarke-Smith states:
"Let’s travel back in time to Berlin in 1938. England had travelled to Germany to play the national team, after controversially hosting them in 1935 at White Hart Lane. Despite protest, that initial game went ahead and both the Home Secretary and the FA made a point of keeping football independent of politics.
"Germany had annexed Austria at that point and political tensions were running high. Following the 1936 Berlin Olympics being used as a propaganda exercise and under a great deal of pressure from both the FA and Britain’s ambassador at the time, the players were encouraged to join the hosts in making the Nazi salute prior to the match.
"England players, including the great Sir Stanley Matthews, were not impressed and did not want to do it. However, they had been reassured that it was merely a formal gesture of courtesy and that it did not mean an endorsement of the regime."
The Tory MP concludes his rant by asking whether England's modern-day footballers "really want to carry the political baggage" of taking the knee, before stating that he will refuse to watch whilst players make the gesture.
Unsurprisingly, Clarke-Smith's decision to compare a gesture in support of racial equality to a salute towards a fascist dictator drew heavy criticism on social media. One user also pointed out the fact that, in 1938, it was a Conservative government - led by notiorus Hitler-appeaser, Neville Chamberlain - that was urging England's players to make the salute in support of Hitler.
"under a great deal of pressure from both the FA and Britain's ambassador at the time, the players were encouraged to join the hosts in making the Nazi salute"
— The Boy In The Lightbox. (@LaserWave2) June 7, 2021
Would that be the Conservative ambassador appointed under a Conservative-led government by a Conservative PM?
In his post, Clarke-Smith states that "the mixing of politics and football had disastrous consequences" - but it is unclear whether the Tory MP is also opposed to England fans chanting political-themed songs such as "Two World Wars and One World Cup", or whether he supports players singing the politicised English National Anthem, "God Save the Queen."
Responding to one Twitter account, Clarke-Smith refused to acknowledge any criticism, and attacked how his statement had been correctly described.
Bit of a lazy description don’t you think?
— Brendan Clarke-Smith MP #StayAlert (@Bren4Bassetlaw) June 7, 2021
Clarke-Smith was elected as the MP for Bassetlaw at the 2019 General Election, gaining the seat from Labour and becoming the first Tory to win the constituency in over a hundred years.
(Writing by Tom D. Rogers, editing by Jessica Miller.)