Black Lives Matter (BLM) is not a “force for good”, former chancellor Sajid Javid has said.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on Monday morning, Javid said there was still “work to do” to tackle racism in the UK but criticised BLM.
The killing of George Floyd in the US in May sparked global anti-racism protests, including in the UK.
“I think the movement of people whether through demonstrating or other ways of fighting for racial justice, of course, that is important,” Javid said.
But he added: “If may, I distinguish between the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial justice.
“I’m not sympathetic to the actual organisation, Black Lives Matter.
“I think it’s a sort of neo-Marxist organisation that wants to overthrow capitalism and get rid of the police.
“I think the organisation itself is not a force for good.”
Javid, who resigned from Boris Johnson’s cabinet in February, was speaking at an event hosted by ConHome.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, also used her speech to Tory members on Sunday to criticise Black Lives Matter.
She accused the group, along with Extinction Rebellion, of acting with “hooliganism and thuggery”.
“It is not acceptable for mobs to tear down statues and cause criminal damage across our streets,” she said.
“And it is not acceptable for thugs to assault our police officers, just for doing their job.”
Patel also complained “do gooders” and “leftie lawyers” were trying to block her plans to change the UK’s asylum system.
The Home Office was gripped by controversy last week amid reports officials were considering a number of proposals included deploying a wave machine to deter boats crossing the English Channel.
Other plans were said to be sending migrants to a remote volcanic island in the Atlantic while claims were processed, something Labour’s Nick Thomas-Symonds called “inhumane, completely impractical and wildly expensive”.