For fear of attacks – London veils its monuments
– –
As of: 8:50 a.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
– – –Barriers are erected at the cenotaph, the central British war memorial in London
Source: Getty Images
– –
London is gearing up for new anti-racism protests this weekend: statues like Winston Churchill are being scarred out of fear of destruction. Fights between left and right demonstrators are also feared.
– – –
VLast week it was just a lettering: “Churchill was a racist” sprayed activists on the British Prime Minister’s memorial in London’s Parliament Square. Meanwhile, the authorities in the British capital fear worse, possibly even the fall of the monument.
That is why statues and memorials are now being cordoned off and scaffolded in rows in the British metropolis to protect them from damage. After all, new anti-racism protests have been announced throughout the UK, especially in the capital, for the coming Saturday, among other things the “Daily Mail” reports.
The situation is particularly explosive because nationalists and hooligans have now announced themselves in London. They want, reported among other things the British “Sun”that protect monuments with physical presence against attackers from the left spectrum if necessary.
According to the paper, there was an online call for a “patriotic gathering” on Churchill’s statue in Westminster. It was distributed among others by the “Democratic Football Lads Alliance”, a network founded in 2017 that claims to preserve British traditions.
Are “whole bus loads” of hooligans coming?
The Alliance asked its members to defend statues and war memorials, it said. It is conceivable that “whole busloads” of football fans and violent hooligans could travel to London and meet left-wing counter-demonstrators there – a horrifying scenario for the security forces. This is not entirely wrong. The well-known British right-wing populist has also called for demo participation Tommy Robinson as well as the right-wing extremist group “Britain First”.
– –
