Since the death of George Floyd and the subsequent re-energization of Black Lives Matter, protests taking the form of solidarity with the US, and of our own systemic failings, have broken out across the UK.
The clashes with police, destruction of statues of slavers, and vandalising of London’s Churchill statue have gone on largely unchallenged by any form of counter-protest- until now.
The weekend commencing 13th June 2020 saw large crowds of people gather at the now boarded-up Churchill statue in central London. The protests were ostensibly a rallying call to patriotic Brits who want to defend their favourite geezer from violent attacks by BLM protesters. What unfolded was very strange.
The British BLM movement had called off their protest in anticipation of right-wing nationalists showing up for a fight. The Churchill fans apparently didn’t get the memo and showed up regardless, despite their main reason for being there- defending the statue- now being redundant.
To be fair to them, they’ve all been locked in with the wife and kids the past three months and it was probably their first weekend out with the lads in ages, so not to be dismayed by a lack of liberal troublemakers to fight, they pick up a few tinnies and head into town.
The absence of lefty-tossers to punch evidently turned out to be quite an issue for some, who turned to attacking the police (you gotta hit someone). What’s strange about their decision to attack the cops is the police were there for the same reason as them, to defend Churchill from non-existent protesters. This didn’t feature as a problem for The Lads as they proceeded to punch, kick, throw bottles, and generally engage in what one might call ‘classic bell-end behaviour’.
These scenes, while admittedly funny, made me think. Who the fuck are these people, and what do they want?
The notion they were their causing all that raucous to defend Churchill is obviously nonsense. Churchill had already been wrapped in metal, as he is at every major protest. The idea they showed up as a counter-protest to Black Lives Matter, presumably to shout “no they don’t”, would have been a better explanation had BLM actually been there. Hmm, what could it be?
There is something inherently sad about this group. It seems they are yearning for some kind of control over our national story, over their own lives. When asked “why are you hear” in various vox pops, none gave a coherent answer. None seem to really know much about Churchill or British History, none can articulate their cause without descending into racism, conspiracies, or blatant untruths. The only thing they managed to collectively convey was one word, chanted in unison: Engerland.
So maybe that's what they want, what they need, what they love. If that's the case then we really need to let them know that they are the single most embarrassing thing our country has to offer.
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