The UK Prime Minister has said it is “absurd and wrong” that authorities have had to protect statues of Winston Churchill “for fear of violent attack.”
A protective covering has been erected around a statue of the former British leader in Parliament Square in London ahead of planned Black Lives Matter protests this weekend.
Speaking this morning, Boris Johnson urged people not to support the protests, which he said have been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence.”
“We should not support a demonstration that is, in all probability, looking at what has happened before, going to end in deliberate and calculated violence,” he said.
Protesters gather around the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square in London during the Black Lives Matter protests, 07-06-2020. Image: Frank Augstein/AP/Press Association ImagesHe said a “growing minority” were using the protests as pretext to “attack the police, to cause violence and to cause damage to public property.”
“The statue of Winston Churchill, who is a national hero, has had to be boarded up for fear of violent attack and that to me is both absurd and wrong,” he said.
It comes after he said on twitter that the statue is “a permanent reminder of his achievement in saving this country – and the whole of Europe – from a fascist and racist tyranny.”
It is absurd and shameful that this national monument should today be at risk of attack by violent protestors. Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial. 2/8
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 12, 2020
There have been many monuments to Winston Churchill erected around the UK to honour his leadership in opposing the Nazis; however, he is also known for his racist views.
The Parliament Statue was boarded up this week after someone spray-painted “Churchill was a racist” across it.
We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations. 3/8
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 12, 2020
They had different perspectives, different understandings of right and wrong. But those statues teach us about our past, with all its faults. To tear them down would be to lie about our history, and impoverish the education of generations to come. 4/8
— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) June 12, 2020
Mr Johnson said he understands the “legitimate feelings of outrage” at the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and the “legitimate desire to protest against discrimination” but said the protests had been “sadly hijacked by extremists intent on violence.”
He said any protesters involved in violence would be arrested in the coming weeks and “will face the full force of the law.”
“It is not acceptable in this country to attack a police officer,” he said.
“It is not acceptable to set out in a calculated way to do damage to public property – let alone to a statue of Winston Churchill so that is the approach we will take.”
The boarded-up Winston Churchill statue in London, 12-06-2020. Image: SOPA Images/SIPA USA/PA ImagesThe UK has also removed a number of other monuments from public view this weekend.
One of slave owner Robert Milligan has been removed from outside the Museum of London while those of slavers Thomas Guy and Sir Robert Clayton have been removed from two hospitals in the city.
