Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Priti Patel says she disagrees with Black Lives Matter protests and taking the knee

THE UK home secretary, Priti Patel, has described the Black Lives Matter(BLM) protests last year as 'dreadful' and said she did not agree with the gesture of taking the knee.

The protests took place in more than 260 towns and cities in June and July across the country. Those were the largest anti-racism protests in Britain for decades.


During a radio interview, Patel said she did not support the protests. When asked if she would be prepared to take the knee, she said: “No I wouldn’t, and I would not have done at the time either," reported The Guardian.

“There are other ways in which people can express their opinions, protesting in the way that people did last summer was not the right way at all … I didn’t support the protests. Those protests were dreadful.”

Patel said that policing was under 'great pressure' from some of the protest.

But she later clarified that she was not criticising the right to protest but the 'dreadful” action last year.

Patel’s comments came after the Commons leader, Jacob Rees-Mogg, accused the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, of overseeing “loony leftwing wheezes” following the creation of a landmark commission to improve diversity in the capital’s public spaces.

As part of the demonstrations in the UK, statues of slave traders including that of Edward Colston in Bristol, were toppled and a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill in central London was vandalised with the words 'is a racist'.

According to a Guardian investigation, scores of tributes to slave traders, colonialists and racists had been taken down or were to be removed across the UK, with hundreds of others under review by local authorities and institutions.

The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd while in the custody of police in Minneapolis. Outrage grew at the fate suffered by Floyd, whose heart stopped on 25 May as a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, according to a medical examiner, with solidarity protests held across the world.

More For You

Chemmani Sri Lanka

The gravesite is one of dozens unearthed across the country. (Photo: X)

x

Child’s remains found in Sri Lanka’s Chemmani mass grave

THE skeletal remains of a girl aged between four and five have been identified among 65 sets of human remains exhumed from a mass grave in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna district. The site first came into focus during the LTTE conflict in the mid-1990s.

“The findings of the excavation at the Chemmani mass grave were reported to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on on Tuesday (15) by Raj Somadeva, a forensic archaeologist overseeing the exhumation,” Jeganathan Tathparan, a lawyer, said on Thursday (17).

Keep ReadingShow less
Aakash Odedra Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist

Aakash Odedra recently won Best Male Dancer and Outstanding Male Classical Performance at the National Dance Awards.

getty images

Aakash Odedra named Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist

AAKASH ODEDRA has been appointed a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, the organisation has announced.

Born in Birmingham and based in Leicester, Odedra is known for combining classical and contemporary dance to reflect British Asian experiences.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump

Trump’s administration has been working on trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most US imports are scheduled to rise again. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trump says trade deal with India ‘very close’

THE US is very close to finalising a trade agreement with India, while a deal with the European Union is also possible, president Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Real America's Voice on Wednesday. However, he said it was too soon to tell if an agreement could be reached with Canada.

Trump’s administration has been working on trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most US imports are scheduled to rise again. The push is part of efforts to secure what Trump considers better trade terms and reduce the large US trade deficit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bengaluru stampede

The incident occurred when hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate with the RCB team after their IPL final win against Punjab Kings. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

State govt report blames RCB, DNA Networks and KSCA for Bengaluru stampede

A STATUS report submitted to the Karnataka High Court on the stampede at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left 11 people dead, has blamed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), their event management partner DNA Networks Pvt Ltd, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for organising the June 4 victory parade and celebration without permission or providing mandatory details to city authorities.

Government sources confirmed to PTI that the report has been submitted to the court.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK to lower voting age to 16

Voters go to the polls as local elections are held in England on May 01, 2025 in Hull, England.

Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

UK to lower voting age to 16 in electoral shake-up

THE government said on Thursday (17) it planned to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections in a major overhaul of the country's democratic system.

The government said the proposed changes were part of an effort to boost public trust in democracy and would align voting rights across Britain, where younger voters already participate in devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

Keep ReadingShow less