How will the row over racism after the Euros play out for the Conservatives?
The prime ministers instinct for political survival seems to have been triggered by the racist response on social media to England football stars after their teams defeat in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel, the home secretary, were quick off the mark on Monday in condemning the abuse and promising to talk to the social media companies about cracking down on it. Johnson seemed to realise that this was a dangerous moment for him, as he and Patel had both sent mixed messages about racism in football by refusing to condemn spectators who booed players taking the knee before matches. Patel had dismissed taking the knee as a gesture  possibly misjudging where the battle line really lay in the culture war. She may have thought she was on safe ground in attacking the quasi-Marxist manifesto of some of the activists of the Black Lives Matter movement, but did not seem to realise that most players regard it as a simple expression of opposition to racism. The idea that Harry Kane, for example, believes that the nuclear family is an instrument of capitalist oppression stretches credulity.