Boris Johnson accused of breaking pledge to beef up laws to protect footballers against online racism

Boris Johnson has been accused of failing to deliver on his promise to beef up football banning orders to include online racism in the wake of the abuse aimed at Englands footballers.

The Prime Minister pledged in July to extend powers to ban fans from attending football matches if they are found guilty of racially attacking players online, insisting there would be no ifs, no buts.

It came after Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho were subjected to a torrent of abuse when England lost the Euro2020 final on penalties.

Labour has demanded Mr Johnson make good on the commitment he made in the House of Commons, insisting it has been more than three months since he promised to take action.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Prime Minister told MPs the Government was taking practical steps to ensure banning orders were changed, so that if a person is guilty of racist online abuse of footballers, they will not be going to the matchno ifs, no buts, no exemptions and no excuses.

The issue was raised again in September when Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries promised to write to her opposite number immediately on the topic, but Labour insists no letter has been received.

The party says that the failure to implement the change promised by the PM back in July has left football players exposed to countless racist attacks online.

Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens said: After the appalling abuse of the England football team during the Euros, there was quite rightly outrage from across the political spectrum.

But its been more than three months since the Prime Minister backed Labours call to treat online abuse in the same way as racism directed at players from the terraces and extend football banning orders.

Labour is now calling on the Government to put forward measures so they can be voted through Parliament.

Mr Johnson is also under pressure to stick to another promise made in the Commons this week to make social media bosses criminally liable for the foul content hosted on their platforms.

The pledge went beyond the existing provisions set out in the draft Online Safety Bill, and comes after it emerged that Instagram does not view monkey emojis to be racist.

Self regulation has manifestly failed and criminal sanctions, we believe, are the best way to change the arrogant culture of the leadership of social media companies who believe they are above the law, Ms Stevens added.