Nigel Farage blasts Labour council staff for taking the knee: 'Inappropriate!'
Nigel Farage has hit out at Salford City Council
GB News / Salford City Council
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Labour council staff ‘taking the knee’ to mark the third anniversary of George Floyd’s death have come under fire from local residents and GB News’ Nigel Farage.
Four managers at Salford City Council, Greater Manchester, took the knee outside their headquarters to mark the murder of the African-American in the US.
The staff were led by £160,000-a-year chief executive Tom Stannard, with one raising a Black Power salute.
GB News’ Nigel Farage criticised the move, dubbing it “inappropriate” given its links to the controversial Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
He said: “They’re Labour councillors from Salford there for the third anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
“Taking the knee is inextricably linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and I think that and the raised fist are pretty inappropriate now because the movement has been utterly discredited.
“It has pretty much stopped acting as an organisation, but it’s okay because Patrisse Cullors, who founded Black Lives Matter, that now totally discredited, extremist, left-wing, Marxist organisation, is now living in a $6 million mansion.
“So for her, it has all worked out pretty nicely.”
The Labour stronghold council posted it on Twitter with the caption: “Today @SalfordCouncil marked the third anniversary of the murder of #GeorgeFloyd.
“May he rest in peace. We will continue to push for a more inclusive society for all.”
Local residents were left disappointed by the move, with some making their feelings clear online.
One said on Twitter that he had been blocked by the council for his “critical, non-abusive” response to the picture, saying: “I pay them my council tax. Now I’m blocked from seeing anything the council has to say.”
The council has made its Twitter account “private”, meaning people are unable to see what it posts.
The council’s Conservative group leader said: “The problem with Salford city council is we spend far too much time criticising government policies and not enough time looking after residents.”
“It wasn’t necessary. This was an ill-chosen time to do it.”
A spokesman told the Telegraph this was because “we are currently addressing concerns regarding targeted, unacceptable abuse against individuals and the council on Twitter”.
They added: “We don’t tolerate hate, profanity or abuse on any of our social and digital platforms and will continue to moderate our social media in line with our policies.”