Politics

Priti Patel defends PM after Dave brands him ‘real racist’ in Brit Awards rap

Home Secretary Priti Patel has criticised rapper Dave for branding Boris Johnson a “real racist” during the Brit Awards.

The Tory MP said the artist’s comments shortly before winning album of the year were “utter nonsense”, and she defended the Prime Minister as “not a racist at all”.

Dave added verses to the end of his song Black criticising the Government for the Windrush scandal and its handling of the Grenfell disaster.

“The truth is our Prime Minister’s a real racist”

The truth is our Prime Minister’s a real racist,” he rapped during the performance at London’s O2 Arena.

Ms Patel was asked about Dave’s criticism as she defended the Government’s immigration plans to refuse visas to low-skilled migrant workers after Brexit.

“Well, that’s utter nonsense, it really is,” she told Sky News.

“I mean I don’t know what those comments are based on. It’s wrong to make judgments about individuals when you don’t know a particular individual.

“He’s not a racist at all and I just think those comments are highly inappropriate.”

Black people have lower IQs

But the rap was backed by Tory peer Baroness Warsi, who highlighted Downing Street’s hiring of aide Andrew Sabisky, who claimed black people have lower IQs.

“After the appalling appointment of #Sabinsky & the shameful lack of condemnation this week from No10 this performance felt like a necessary wake up call in the most provocative way,” the former Conservative Party chairwoman tweeted.

Mr Sabisky stood down amid mounting pressure when a slew of highly-criticised past comments surfaced, but No 10 has failed to condemn his remarks.

Labour is demanding to know whether the PM agrees with Mr Sabisky’s views, pointing to an article published in The Spectator magazine when Mr Johnson was its editor which claimed “blacks are at the other pole” to “orientals” who have “larger brains”.

Jack Merritt

Dave also paid tribute to London Bridge terror attack victim Jack Merritt, and criticised the PM’s response to impose more severe sentences.

“As a young black man who’s seen paper and crack. Give them tougher sentences? It’s just papering cracks,” he rapped.

And he criticised the Government, saying: “Grenfell victims still need accommodation and we still need support for the Windrush generation.”

Dave won best album at the Brits for Psychodrama, which topped the UK album chart and won last year’s Mercury Prize.

Related: ‘Nobody understands Scotland’, says Labour deputy leader candidate Ian Murray

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

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