Reactions to racism protests in GB

Photo above – A protester climbs the flags on the Cenotaph in Whitehall during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7

## The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
London’s landmarks to be reviewed in wake of Black Lives Matter protests, Sadiq Khan reveals.
The Mayor of London said the city’s statues, plaques and street names largely reflect Victorian Britain
[[] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/06/09/londons-landmarks-reviewed-wake-black-lives-matter-protests/?utm_ ]

## The Spectator

Labour’s attitude to Winston Churchill and his statue is one of those issues that helps signify how in – or out – of touch the party is with those whose support it needs to win back if it is ever to form a government, says Steven Fielding.

“It has become a ritual almost as traditional as the Changing of the Guard. During a weekend of mostly peaceful protests, Winston Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square was once again vandalised.

“The first recorded defacement of Ivor Roberts-Jones’ imposing rendition of Churchill took place during London’s 2000 May Day anti-capitalist protests. A strip of grass placed on the statue’s head gave the impression it sported a Mohican haircut. James Mitchell, a former soldier in his twenties, also sprayed its mouth with blood-like red paint. Mitchell said he did this because: ‘Churchill was an exponent of capitalism and of imperialism and anti-Semitism. A Tory reactionary vehemently opposed to the emancipation of women and to independence in India’. In a similar vein, this weekend an anonymous Black Lives Matters protestor sprayed on the statue’s plinth that Churchill was a racist.”
[[] https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-the-labour-left-so-averse-to-winston-churchill- ]

## Rishi Sunak, Member of Parliament for Richmond (Yorks). Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I’ve had a lot of questions on what I think about last weekend’s protests so I thought it would be easiest to share my thoughts below.

The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Rev Vivienne Faull
My commitments. I invite others to join me and bring about change