BRITAIN is not a racist country, Boris Johnson has insisted, as the UK Government made clear those who allegedly assaulted police officers and caused criminal damage during the weekend’s anti-racism protests would face justice.

The Prime Minister stressed how he understood the “strength of feeling” people had following the death of George Floyd in America but that it was in everyone’s interests that the law was obeyed.

When he was asked if Mr Johnson accepted the broader message of some protesters that the UK was racist, his spokesman said: “The PM certainly recognises the strength of feeling in response to George Floyd’s death and supports the right of people to make their feelings known about injustices in general.”

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Asked directly if the PM thought the UK was a racist country, he replied: "No. The PM doesn't doubt that there continues to be discrimination and racism but would not agree that this is a racist country.

“We have made very significant progress on this issue but there remains more to do and we will not be complacent in our efforts to stamp out racism and discrimination where it happens."

Mr Johnson has been updated by Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, on the weekend’s Black Lives Matter protest in London, which Scotland Yard said had resulted in 36 people being arrested for offences, including violent disorder, criminal damage and assaulting police.

It added that 35 officers reported suffering injuries. Of these, two needed to be treated in hospital, one suffering a head wound and the second a shoulder injury after being hit by a thrown bottle.

Last night, the PM said those who had engaged in violence and criminal damage were guilty of “thuggery,” which had undermined the anti-racism cause. He believed it was “never acceptable” to commit acts of violence against police officers as they protected the public, explained the spokesman.

Asked if the PM understood why people were affronted by the existence of the statue in Bristol, erected in memory of the slave-trader Edward Colston, he quoted Kit Malthouse, the UK Government’s Police Minister, who this morning made clear a crime had been committed in removing the statue, a police investigation was now underway and a prosecution would follow.

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The spokesman said: “The PM’s view is that in this country, where there is strong opinion, there is a democratic process, which should be followed. People can campaign for the removal of the statue but what happened yesterday was a criminal act and when the criminal law is broken, that is unacceptable and the police will want to hold to account those responsible.”

He went on: “The PM absolutely understands the strength of feeling but in this country we settle our differences democratically and if people want the removal of the statue, there are democratic routes which can be followed.”

Asked if the Colston statue should be reinstated, the spokesman pointed out this was not something he had discussed with Mr Johnson but again noted: “A crime was committed in removing the statue, an investigation is underway and the police will decide whether a prosecution is possible.”

Asked about the daubing of graffiti on the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, the No 10 official said this too was an unacceptable act of criminal damage.

When he was asked about whether or not planned anti-racist demonstrations in other parts of the country such as Hull, Reading and King’s Lynn should go ahead, he replied: “The Prime Minister has said people have a right to protest and make their feelings known about injustices but they must protest peacefully and in accordance with the rule on social distancing. The Home Secretary has set out today that on the basis that the rules on social distancing weren’t being followed, then the protests are not lawful in that circumstance.”

He added: “The rules on social distancing on mass gatherings are there for a good reason and that is to prevent the transmission of the virus.”

Asked why people were able to break the law with impunity, the spokesman made clear the police had the Government’s “full support” and pointed to a previous response from Mr Malthouse, who spoke of police chiefs having to take into account a number of factors in such circumstances such as the safety of their officers and the public before they intervened in a crowd.

Pressed on whether Mr Johnson was worried the weekend’s mass gatherings could lead to a rise in the R rate of infection, he replied that the law was in place to prevent transmission of the virus and if it was not followed, then it was “possible that that could lead to the virus being passed on”.

Colston, an 18th century wine merchant who was the MP for Bristol, headed the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly of the British trade in African slaves. He used his wealth to support schools, charitable housing for the poor, hospitals and churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere, many of which survive to this day.