WTAF - Far right protests

[Poppi89]

I have just heard on the radio that far-right protesters will be out tomorrow in response to the BLM protesters. People are being urged not to be out in support of BLM tomorrow due to the aggressive nature of the far-right group and BLM protests are being cancelled because of them.

I am outraged by this. The BLM protesters are asking for people to not be killed due to the colour of their skin. They have rightly or wrongly made a decision to put themselves at risk of COVID-19 to help spread this message - a lot of people have called them idiots etc for doing this.

The far-right protests are now also protesting in large groups (but not in response to a murder) and are 'known' for being aggressive. How is this acceptable?

I would like to hear from anyone who is planning to join/agree with these far-right protests and their reasons why?

YankeeinKingArthursCourt
both the Met & the ACPO agree that there's been an increase in Islamaphobic attacks (typically from Far Right groups).

Yes, I can appreciate that there has been an increase in anti-Muslim incidents (perhaps we should refer to 'incidents' rather than 'attacks'?) - your link states; "the four major terrorist attacks in the UK in 2017 led to sharp spikes of reported anti-Muslim hate incidents." I am certain that the publicity surrounding grooming gangs has contributed as well.

Do you have a link please to where the Met and the ACPO refer to incidents being "typically from Far Right groups"?

Tell Mama published a report in July 2018 - only two weeks before Boris Johnson's article -

Victim and Perpetrator Age Ranges -

"The most common age for perpetrators was 13-18."

tellmamauk.org/tell-mamas-annual-report-for-2017-shows-highest-number-of-anti-muslim-incidents/

Can you understand how the PMs comments about BAME people ( "pickaninnies, watermelon smiles, postboxes, bank robbers" etc) can be divisive? Can you see how these comments embolden Far Right groups? Can you see why they would act against BAME people? Do you feel that as PM, he has a responsibility to unify people?

More to the point - why do you keep repeating these comments?

Ever since the Conservative leadership campaign last year, barely a day goes by that "piccaninnies, watermelon smiles, bank robbers or letter boxes..." are not mentioned on Mumsnet, in the media, by Labour and Lib Dem MPs... If there is genuine concern that these comments might be hurtful and divisive why repeat them over and over again?

Boris Johnson's "piccaninnies" reference was written in 2002 and he apologised in 2008 - why teach this word to the next crop of 13-18 year old boys? Likewise, the references to "letter boxes", "bank robbers" and burkas. Or is it that the desire for political point scoring has so outweighed any concern that these comments might continue to be offensive or divisive when written by someone other than Boris Johnson?

He had an apology dragged out of him six years later. There is no real evidence that he has changed.

'He had an apology dragged out of him six years later. There is no real evidence that he has changed.'

Well as I said previously he has a diverse cabinet. If it were full of white men you'd have a point. He apologised for comments made years ago, move on.

Stormzy made homophobic comments but has rightly apologised and people accept it. Why not with Johnson? Granted he's not a grime star but still a high profile public figure.

Stormzy is the PM then? That's news to me!

Oh peregrina did you miss the bit where I said granted he isn't a grime star? I should've have said and stormzy isn't PM to prevent such tedious misunderstandings.

My point was Stormzy is a high profile influential figure who has said offensive crap in the past. If people fawn and accept his apologies why not Johnson? What about his diverse cabinet, is that not evidence to you that he is inclusive?

The cabinet may not be stuffed with white men but there are precious few women in it.

Come on, it is mainly white men, with just a couple of token BAME politicians. It really was a step backwards in terms of equality on the part of BoJo.

Those who go on about a few words taken out of context from the pen of someone who is as anti racist as the Prime Minister really say more about themselves than about Boris J who is certainly not racist in any way.
Labour has not even managed a women prime minister once.

@Xenia

Those who go on about a few words taken out of context from the pen of someone who is as anti racist as the Prime Minister really say more about themselves than about Boris J who is certainly not racist in any way. Labour has not even managed a women prime minister once.

Keep telling you Xenia, words matter. Those ill chosen, racist words will haunt Johnson for ever and outlive him. I’m not interested in token female leaders, Starmer is the right Labour leader for now, his opponents for the leadership are lacklustre to say the least.

Much as I detested Thatcher, I can see her appeal to Tory voters. May got it by default and was appalling, nothing much for the Tories to present themselves for there.

My lovely gentle Dad said when he left the UK to go back home after working here for 20 years said that Margaret Thatcher was the most wicked woman he had ever heard of. She destroyed so many lives.

I’ve never forgotten how he spoke of her - the most angry I had ever seen him. (And I totally agree with him).

I agree with him too. But equally I can see why the Tories loved her so much.

Thankfully I don’t think many Tories love Boris now he’s messed up handling Covid and is taking the UK towards a no deal Brexit. The only plus is that the Tories time in parliament could be shorter than they planned with the amount of opposition from areas that voted Tory for the first time. I love PMQ’s now listening to Kier running rings around Boris!

love PMQ’s now listening to Kier running rings around Boris!'

Funny how we all interpret things differently. Starmer waffled and tried so very hard to be 'forensic' yet even Piers Morgan who is not a Johnson fan admitted he was very weak and Johnson had the upper hand throughout.

Starmer never waffles. He’s incapable of it. I don’t give a shit what Piers Morgan thinks, he’s wrong.

More to the point - why do you keep repeating these comments?
Ever since the Conservative leadership campaign last year, barely a day goes by that "piccaninnies, watermelon smiles, bank robbers or letter boxes..." are not mentioned on Mumsnet, in the media, by Labour and Lib Dem MPs... If there is genuine concern that these comments might be hurtful and divisive why repeat them over and over again?

You're right. I'm not going to repeat the racist remarks BJ has said/wrote again. I don't want a new generation of racists learning them. From now on I'll just refer to Boris Johnson's racist writings.

Thankfully I don’t think many Tories love Boris now
I don't agree. I have never seen devotion like it to the Tories and Brexit. I doesn't matter what they do, how many people die, Tory voters will crawl over hot coals to keep them in power.

Kier, as a lawyer, is clever with his use of words. Boris struggles to follow and then Kier drops him in it. Kier does his homework, Boris doesn’t.

Recent opinion polls show Boris’s loss of popularity and an increase for Kier.

What if we all rallied together against years and years of oppression by the elite?

Confused - Aren’t general elections the opportunity to do that?

The only plus is that the Tories time in parliament could be shorter than they planned with the amount of opposition from areas that voted Tory for the first time

I wouldn't want to rely on that myself; we're all in a spin over Covid right now, but people have short memories and an 80 plus majority won't be overturned in an instant

That said, having Starmer instead of Corbyn will doubtless make a difference and pull back some of those who deserted them last time

Hopefully the worst of COVID will be over soon and people will wake up to the nightmare of Boris’s Brexit.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

I agree with you, this particular storm will blow over. But Starmar will still be around to keep challenging Johnson, who does have a habit of screwing things up, and the Tory Party are well known for turning on leaders that have become a liability.

Absolutely, MIttens. I can't begin to express how pleased I am to see some proper opposition at last, and the 1922 Committee will hopefully act if they believe Boris has become too much of a liability

Interestingly, it's being reported in the Torygraph that they've just told him to reduce the 2 metre limit and scrap quarantine, which if true suggests a certain frustration: www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/17/boris-johnson-told-reduce-2m-rule-axe-quarantine-meets-1922/

Overall, though, it's a long time until the next scheduled election, and the one certainty is that the party will look after themselves first, last and always

and the one certainty is that the party will look after themselves first, last and always

Not doing a great job of it now.

This was brilliant!

Clavinova I don't usually read your cut-n-pastes but this stuck out perhaps we should refer to 'incidents' rather than 'attacks'?

Why on earth would you want to whitewash reality like that? Who is going to be the arbiter of what is an attack and what is merely an 'incident'? You?