Boris Johnson’s comments regarding mythical attempts to remove Churchill’s statue from Parliament Square are simply giving succour to the far right which is on the march again.
His talk of a ‘commission’ to look into racism in Britain is yet another attempt to cover up the level of the problem. As David Lammy and others have said, if the government is serious about steps to eradicate racism, it should implement the numerous recommendations of reviews already commissioned. For a start, the section on NHS institutional racism that included recommendations, in the Public Health England report on Covid19 disparities, that the government chose to remove before publication, must be made public.
This weekend saw the racist and fascist right out on the streets of London and elsewhere across the country. In London they said they were gathering to ‘defend’ the Churchill statue.
In reality there were violent thugs giving the Hitler salute assaulting bystanders, urinating on memorials.
These thugs are coming out in response to the massive growth of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. They have been given encouragement by Boris Johnson’s attempts to brand this movement as extremist.
We condemn the violence of the Far Right & say that these so called ‘Football Lads’ – have no place in any ground in the country.
We demand a genuine independent public inquiry into the racism that has led to massively disproportionate deaths in black communities during the Covid19 crisis.
SIGNED
Diane Abbott MP
Michael Rosen
Bell Ribeiro Addy MP
Claudia Webbe MP
Dawn Butler MP
Apsana Begum MP
Richard Burgon MP
Weyman Bennett & Sabby Dhalu co convenors Stand Up To Racism
Chris Stephens MP
Julie Ward MEP
Claude Moraes MEP
Richard Leonard MSP & Scottish Labour leader
Anas Sarwar MSP
Anna Rothery Liverpool Lord Mayor
Rehana Azam GMB national secretary (pc)
Manuel Cortez TSSA general secretary
Michelle Stanistreet NUJ general secretary
Sarah Woolley BFAWU general secretary
Ian Hodson BFAWU national president
Jane Loftus CWU vice president
Talha Ahmad Muslim Council Britain
Mohammed Kozbar chairperson Finsbury Park Mosque
Aman Ali MEND
Mohammed Shoaib MEND
Shahrar Ali Green Party Home Affairs spokesperson
Robina Qureshi Positive Action Housing