"Shameful" to threaten Churchill statue, says UK PM Johnson

[rooster59]

"Shameful" to threaten Churchill statue, says UK PM Johnson

By Michael Holden and Elizabeth Piper

 

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a daily briefing to update on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain June 10, 2020. Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/Handout via REUTERS

 

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was "absurd and shameful" that a statue of Winston Churchill was at risk of attack by activists, his strongest statement yet on growing protests against the legacies of past leaders.

 

Anti-racism protesters, who have staged demonstrations since the death of African American George Floyd, have put statues at the forefront of their challenge to Britain's imperialist past.

 

Politicians, police and activists sought to dissuade people from coming to Parliament Square on Saturday, where statues were boarded up ahead of possible protests.

 

A statue of Edward Colston, who made a fortune in the 17th century from the slave trade, was torn down in the city of Bristol on Sunday, and authorities have acted to protect monuments they believe could be next.

 

They have now boarded up a statue opposite parliament of Churchill, Britain's prime minister during World War Two, after demonstrators defaced it last weekend.

 

"It is absurd and shameful that this national monument should today be at risk of attack by violent protesters," Johnson wrote on Twitter.

 

On Friday, around 500 people gathered in London's Hyde Park chanting "the UK is not innocent" and "Black Lives Matter", before marching through central London, with many saying that statues such as Colston's were legitimate targets.

 

"If we have these big images, and we're telling people that these people and what they stood for is OK, we're just allowing everything that they did to pass," said Samantha Halsall, 23, a student at the protest.

 

Organisers told the protesters not to turn up in central London on Saturday amid concern that there could be altercations with counter-protestors looking to defend statues.

 

London police chief Cressida Dick echoed that call.

 

"It's clear that we're in the middle of a public health crisis. So it's not safe for them, it's not safe for the people around them," she said.

 

"Secondly, we do have information that people are intent on coming to cause violence and confrontation."

 

The opposition Labour party warned that the weekend was likely to see "major challenges" and that far-right activists might "exploit the situation and sow hate for their own divisive ends."

 

Far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon said he would not turn up to the square on Saturday as he did not want to be responsible for more racial division.

 

Johnson is an admirer and biographer of Churchill, and some of those close to him say he wants to emulate him.

But Churchill expressed racist and anti-Semitic views and critics blame him for denying food to India during the 1943 famine which killed more than two million people - aspects of his legacy which some say are not scrutinised enough.

 

"Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial," Johnson wrote, calling on people to avoid the protests.

 

"We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history."

 

(Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Dylan Martinez and Will Russell, writing by Alistair Smout, editing by Timothy Heritage and Stephen Addison)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-06-13

 

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[baansgr]

Fascism wins...what a sorry arsed country UK has become

[daveAustin]

9 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Fascism wins...what a sorry arsed country UK has become

Leftism has won.

[mr mr]

8 minutes ago, daveAustin said:

18 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Fascism wins...what a sorry arsed country UK has become

Leftism has won.

same thing different bow tie.

[ezzra]

And while the Covid pandemic still going on we're now having the politically correct pandemic (PC) incited to appease certain groups in society who feels slighted and mistreated and who believes the mayhem, looting, burning and toppling statues will solve their deep hatred towards anyone who doesn't agree with their point of view...

[Samui Bodoh]

Few, if any, past heroes would withstand being judged based on today's standards, and it would be unfair to do so except in the most extreme cases (I have little sympathy for slave-traders, for example).

 

A word of caution;

 

If you destroy all of the past's heroes, what will people look up to and be inspired by in the future?

 

And, if there are no more heroes, then what in time of need?

 

 

[tribalfusion001]

This has hardly started, it's the prelude. I listened to Prof. David Olusoga tonight on Newsnight tonight, he was saying how the under 25s were studying political books during the lockdown and forming new ideas for change. A lot of the people protesting black and white either at the demos or online are forming ideas that won't go away easily.

[thaibeachlovers]

19 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

"If we have these big images, and we're telling people that these people and what they stood for is OK, we're just allowing everything that they did to pass," said Samantha Halsall, 23, a student at the protest.

Too young to know much and, IMO, lacking intelligence. No one I know says that things like slavery were OK, but the people that had statues made were remembered for the benefits they brought, not for the bad things.

 

If Boris had any guts he'd stand up against them and send some hard cops to give them an education next time they want to vandalise public property. Maggie would have put an end to the stupidity, but her current successor clearly lacks guts. Boris is a big disappointment to me now.

 

24 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Organisers told the protesters not to turn up in central London on Saturday amid concern that there could be altercations with counter-protestors looking to defend statues.

Yes, they should be scared of the beating they richly deserve.

 

26 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

London police chief Cressida Dick echoed that call.

 

"It's clear that we're in the middle of a public health crisis. So it's not safe for them, it's not safe for the people around them," she said.

No wonder that the thugs run around immune to arrest for their crimes with a stupid reaction like that. She should be saying that if they cause disruption and vandalism they'll be arrested and charged, and follow it up with action. Where's Maggie when she's needed?

 

31 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

On Friday, around 500 people gathered in London's Hyde Park

and the rest of the UK's millions were not there. 500 is nothing in the greater context.

 

33 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

But Churchill expressed racist and anti-Semitic views and critics blame him for denying food to India during the 1943 famine which killed more than two million people - aspects of his legacy which some say are not scrutinised enough.

More stupidity then. Without Churchill there wouldn't be a Britain for the hooligans to vandalise. Yes he did bad things, but he was the man for the blackest of times when the nation stood alone against the best war machine on the planet. I doubt the idiots protesting know what hard times are.

 

critics blame him for denying food to India during the 1943 famine

Apparently too stupid to understand that bad things happen in a world war, but apparently it's OK to judge the past by today's standards.

Stalin killed over 6 million through starvation and Mao killed between 15 million and 36 million and there wasn't even a war going on. Why don't the protestors demonstrate outside the Chinese embassy? The Chinese government still reveres Mao.

 

[tribalfusion001]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If Boris had any guts he'd stand up against them and send some hard cops to give them an education next time they want to vandalise public property. Maggie would have put an end to the stupidity, but her current successor clearly lacks guts. Boris is a big disappointment to me now.

 

Like she did in the 1990 Poll Tax riots and was gone by the end of the year lol.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

Like she did in the 1990 Poll Tax riots and was gone by the end of the year lol.

She clearly went power mad and was rightly removed by her colleagues. While I disagree with the pit closures themselves she was not averse to using the police to enforce the law. Pity Boris doesn't have the same guts.

[tribalfusion001]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

She clearly went power mad and was rightly removed by her colleagues. While I disagree with the pit closures themselves she was not averse to using the police to enforce the law. Pity Boris doesn't have the same guts.

She did give Scargill a good hiding. Not advisable doing that at present, the country will descend into chaos, maybe that's the plan if you like a conspiracy theory.

[thaibeachlovers]

24 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

This has hardly started, it's the prelude. I listened to Prof. David Olusoga tonight on Newsnight tonight, he was saying how the under 25s were studying political books during the lockdown and forming new ideas for change. A lot of the people protesting black and white either at the demos or online are forming ideas that won't go away easily.

Civilizations are always brought down from within before the enemy moves in. IMO western civilization is in it's last stage and will be gone in due course. The hooligans will have more to worry about then than statues of those that lived in different times. Statues can be removed but the past is unchanging.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

She did give Scargill a good hiding. Not advisable doing that at present, the country will descend into chaos, maybe that's the plan if you like a conspiracy theory.

I do like a good conspiracy theory, but to claim that our enemies are not loving this sort of stupidity writ large in the west would be to deny reality.

BTW, IMO the country ( wherever we live ) is already in strife. Lockdown effects are yet to become apparent, but will, IMO, be severe, and not good for many of us.

Edited June 13, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[tribalfusion001]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Civilizations are always brought down from within before the enemy moves in. IMO western civilization is in it's last stage and will be gone in due course. The hooligans will have more to worry about then than statues of those that lived in different times. Statues can be removed but the past is unchanging.

Very true, the hooligans are just the pawns, the patsies who have risen to the bait. I've been following a number of groups online both left and right, the BLM and anti-fascists have cancelled their protest for today citing violence from the far right. If things go as I think they will, the likely to be drunk hooligans will have a few skirmishes with protesters and end up fighting the police. The protesters are advising to protest locally instead.

[tribalfusion001]

12 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I do like a good conspiracy theory, but to claim that our enemies are not loving this sort of stupidity writ large in the west would be to deny reality.

BTW, IMO the country ( wherever we live ) is already in strife. Lockdown effects are yet to become apparent, but will, IMO, be severe, and not good for many of us.

Agree, FUBAR. A rollercoaster of a ride for sure. A shape of things to come, CHAZ blocks in Seattle and Minneapolis creating community led policing instead of a police force. I think Colston pulling down and dumping in the river was like the 1989 Berlin wall night, seminal piece of history created. With social media it can spread faster than ever before and copycat reactions worldwide, it's exciting with energy but dark too. That sounds like my techno music lol.

 

This is interesting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by tribalfusion001

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

Very true, the hooligans are just the pawns, the patsies who have risen to the bait. I've been following a number of groups online both left and right, the BLM and anti-fascists have cancelled their protest for today citing violence from the far right. If things go as I think they will, the likely to be drunk hooligans will have a few skirmishes with protesters and end up fighting the police. The protesters are advising to protest locally instead.

Indeed. During the Khmer Rouge reign the children that were at the forefront of the regime during the revolution apparently disappeared in the torture rooms themselves. The useful idiots usually seem to come to a sticky end when the new regime is fully in power.

Where I live all this protest rubbish is non existent. It might as well be on the moon for all the effect it's having locally.

[Laughing Gravy]

We have created a snowflake generation who are offended by everything, narcissistic in nature as they need constant confirmation that they are liked and doing well with their FB and emoji culture. I have said it before, as I do not fear being overtaken by the younnger generation. Generally they are lazy, want to get to the top, without putting their time in and feel that they are owed everythhing. They have minimal staying power and blame everyone else for everything, except themselves.

 

Yes of course there are exceptions but not too many as they are few and far between. I blame the X factor stardom generation and the fact that everyone has to be a winner, you can't tell someone they are second or need to improve.

 

There is nothing wrong in following your dreams but not at the expense of working hard and having a plan B. Too many youngsters looking up to the Katie Price's of the world as role models. Now people jumping on the Racism bandwagon. It will be something else next time. All poor me, why am I not rich and famous. I find the generation on the whole a disappointment.

Edited June 13, 2020 by Laughing Gravy

[Chomper Higgot]

1 hour ago, tribalfusion001 said:

This has hardly started, it's the prelude. I listened to Prof. David Olusoga tonight on Newsnight tonight, he was saying how the under 25s were studying political books during the lockdown and forming new ideas for change. A lot of the people protesting black and white either at the demos or online are forming ideas that won't go away easily.

Young people reading political books and forming new ideas for change.

 

Shock and horror.

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

Fascism wins...what a sorry arsed country UK has become

Cheer up, the USA is right there next to you. Two sorry nations that buckled under the pressure.

 

Has anyone tracked down these fellows yet??

https://www.thoughtco.com/african-slave-traders-44538

Edited June 13, 2020 by EVENKEEL

[Chomper Higgot]

8 minutes ago, Laughing Gravy said:

We have created a snowflake generation who are offended by everything, narcissistic in nature as they need constant confirmation that they are liked and doing well with their FB and emoji culture. I have said it before, as I do not fear being overtaken by the younnger generation. Generally they are lazy, want to get to the top, without putting their time in and feel that they are owed everythhing. They have minimal staying power and blame everyone else for everything, except themselves.

 

Yes of course there are exceptions but not too many as they are few and far between. I blame the X factor stardom generation and the fact that everyone has to be a winner, you can't tell someone they are second or need to improve.

 

There is nothing wrong in following your dreams but not at the expense of working hard and having a plan B. Too many youngsters looking up to the Katie Price's of the world as role models. No people jumping on the Racism bandwagon. It will be something else next time. All poor me, why am I not rich and famous. I find the generation on the whole a disappointment.

All the same tired old negative characterizations against the young.

[baansgr]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Few, if any, past heroes would withstand being judged based on today's standards, and it would be unfair to do so except in the most extreme cases (I have little sympathy for slave-traders, for example).

 

A word of caution;

 

If you destroy all of the past's heroes, what will people look up to and be inspired by in the future?

 

And, if there are no more heroes, then what in time of need?

 

 

Don't worry, we will have statues and can look upto the likes of Dianne Abbot, Mandela, Stephen Lawrence, the fist Indian bus driver in Bristol and various other non entity people of colour

[Matzzon]

Yep, it´s much better to think about a statue and how people like or not like that one. Nothing special with the Churchill statue. Just a piece of stone. If someone or a group decides to break it, then use the law to punish them. Simple. Nothing needs to be more complicated. Now back to something that have some more important things. I am sure his table is full of them, as he was in hospital for such a long time.

[JCauto]

6 hours ago, Laughing Gravy said:

We have created a snowflake generation who are offended by everything, narcissistic in nature as they need constant confirmation that they are liked and doing well with their FB and emoji culture. I have said it before, as I do not fear being overtaken by the younnger generation. Generally they are lazy, want to get to the top, without putting their time in and feel that they are owed everythhing. They have minimal staying power and blame everyone else for everything, except themselves.

 

Yes of course there are exceptions but not too many as they are few and far between. I blame the X factor stardom generation and the fact that everyone has to be a winner, you can't tell someone they are second or need to improve.

 

There is nothing wrong in following your dreams but not at the expense of working hard and having a plan B. Too many youngsters looking up to the Katie Price's of the world as role models. Now people jumping on the Racism bandwagon. It will be something else next time. All poor me, why am I not rich and famous. I find the generation on the whole a disappointment.

Let me summarize it for you to save time.

"GET OFF MY LAWN!"

[bert bloggs]

What i dont understand is ,if Winston Churchill was so  racist and hated ,why are so many black men named after him?

[nauseus]

8 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

Like she did in the 1990 Poll Tax riots and was gone by the end of the year lol.

Nothing to do with it.

[Loiner]

9 hours ago, tribalfusion001 said:

This has hardly started, it's the prelude. I listened to Prof. David Olusoga tonight on Newsnight tonight, he was saying how the under 25s were studying political books during the lockdown and forming new ideas for change. A lot of the people protesting black and white either at the demos or online are forming ideas that won't go away easily.

Under 25s studying political books??? Catching them even reading comic books would be a rarity.

That has got to be the biggest laugh of the summer so far.

[tribalfusion001]

12 minutes ago, Loiner said:

Under 25s studying political books??? Catching them even reading comic books would be a rarity.

That has got to be the biggest laugh of the summer so far.

At least they can read unlike the hooligans today who spelt "afford" like this "offord" in one of their Facebook posts lol.

[Loiner]

12 minutes ago, tribalfusion001 said:

At least they can read unlike the hooligans today who spelt "afford" like this "offord" in one of their Facebook posts lol.

You do realise that they are one and the same people though, don't you?

[TKDfella]

Moari (apparently 'inspired' by BLM) threatened the Hamilton statue too, so it has been taken down.

[DoctorG]

2 hours ago, JCauto said:

Let me summarize it for you to save time.

"GET OFF MY LAWN!"

That's what an Australian homeowner told the PM.

(more politely though)

ps; haven't seen Gavin lately.

Edited June 13, 2020 by DoctorG
added