White Lives Matter Burnley stunt was "stupid", says Brandon Lewis
23 June 2020, 08:24
Brandon Lewis labels Burnley banner stunt "stupid" and "inappropriate"
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has told LBC that flying the 'White Lives matter' banner over last night's football match was "a really stupid thing to do".
A small minority of Burnley fans arranged for the banner stating "White Lives matter Burnley" over their match against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium yesterday.
Mr Lewis branded the stunt "stupid", telling Nick Ferrari: "It was a really stupid thing to do.
"Inappropriate, bad judgement. I don't know why they did it."
Burnley lost the match 5-0, with Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez both scoring twice.
White Lives Matter banner condemned by Burnley
Mr Lewis also insisted the Cabinet is yet to agree on which venues can or can't re-open next month.
Reports suggested cinemas, art galleries and museums will be able to open their doors to visitors from 4th July.
But the Northern Ireland Secretary confirmed that the decision would only be made at this morning's Cabinet meeting.
N Ireland Secretary insists Cabinet has not decided what can reopen
He said: "Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance will be at the Cabinet meeting to give us advice on the decisions that we've got to make and the Prime Minister will make an announcement later.
"This is positive and good because of the phenomenal work people have done in following guidelines, we're now in a position to talk about the next stages of opening up and what the new normal might look like."
