Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said anti-racism protests at the weekend were “subverted by thuggery” after some demonstrators clashed with police.
Boris Johnson has accused thugs of “hijacking” the wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd in the US.
Following protests across the globe, On the second day of anti-racism protests in the UK, a bronze statue in Bristol honoring slave trader Edward Colston, who left his fortune to charities, was pulled down from its base and dumped into the harbor.
He also criticised the mass protests for risking a fresh surge in coronavirus infections by “flouting” social-distancing rules.
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Boris Johnson said: “We simply cannot ignore the depth of emotion that has been triggered by that spectacle, of a black man losing his life at the hands of the police,
“In this country and around the world his dying words – I can’t breathe – have awakened an anger and a widespread and incontrovertible, undeniable feeling of injustice, a feeling that people from black and minority ethnic groups do face discrimination: in education, in employment, in the application of the criminal law.
“And we who lead and who govern simply can’t ignore those feelings because in too many cases, I am afraid, they will be founded on a cold reality.
“I remember the 1970s, and the horror of the National Front. I truly believe that we are a much, much less racist society than we were, in many ways far happier and better.
“But we must also frankly acknowledge that there is so much more to do – in eradicating prejudice, and creating opportunity, and the government I lead is committed to that effort.
“And so I say yes, you are right, we are all right, to say Black Lives Matter; and to all those who have chosen to protest peacefully and who have insisted on social distancing – I say, yes, of course, I hear you, and I understand.
“But I must also say that we are in a time of national trial, when for months this whole country has come together to fight a deadly plague.
“After such sacrifice, we cannot now let it get out of control.
“So no, I will not support those who flout the rules on social distancing, for the obvious reason that we risk a new infection at a critical time and just as we have made huge progress.
“And no, I will not support or indulge those who break the law, or attack the police, or desecrate public monuments.
“We have a democracy in this country. If you want to change the urban landscape, you can stand for election, or vote for someone who will.”