BRIGHTON’S three MPs have thrown their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

Each has taken to social media after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old African-American man, sparked worldwide protests.

Footage shows him handcuffed and held face down on the ground saying “I can’t breathe” while white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, presses his knee into his neck for more than eight minutes.

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, and three officers have now also been charged with aiding and abetting him.

The Argus:

Labour MP for Hove and Portslade Peter Kyle said he had been watching the news in the US unfold “with heartbreak and horror”.

For Mr Kyle, the image of a “white man in a position of power” kneeling on George Floyd’s neck crystallised a racism that “needs tackling right here at home too”.

He promised to use his new post as shadow minister for victims and youth justice to “play an active, committed, and persistent role in tackling the ethnic imbalance and institutional racism that exists within our criminal justice system.”

The Argus: Lloyd Russell-Moyle

The Labour MP for Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle echoed these comments.

He said: “The US have a long road ahead of them for racial justice.

“But the UK too needs to come to terms with the racial divide we suffer.

“We need to recognise that there is systemic and structural racism in this country, that we need to confront.

“We need to challenge those who are in positions of power to not only say that black lives matter but also to act like it.”

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Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, said it was “time for change”.

She said “terrible events in the USA have shown that anti-racism, change and solidarity are needed now as much as ever.”