• United Kingdom - Labor councils to remove slave statues
  • Racial tension: the British relive their slave past
  • Bristol: The demolition of the statue of slaver Edward Colston causes a political storm
  • UK. British police fear 'statue war' between Black Lives Matter and far-right groups

Boris Johnson has assured that the removal of statues linked to slavery is "lying about our history". The 'premier' has personally decided to get wet in the controversy and has also described as "absurd and shameful" the decision of the mayor of London, the Labor Sadiq Khan, to protect with scaffolding and fences statues such as that of Winston Churchill , vandalized a week ago with the graffiti "he was a racist".

Johnson stressed that Churchill's effigy in Parliament Square is "a permanent reminder of his accomplishments in saving the country and all of Europe from a fascist and racist tyranny . "

"It is true that he sometimes expressed opinions that would be unacceptable today," he acknowledged. "But he was a hero and he totally deserves that monument."

The "armor" of the Churchill statue, in the face of possible clashes between Black Lives Matter campaign protesters and far-right militants who have called for "patriotic unity" this weekend, has become a throwing weapon between conservatives and Labor.

"We are yielding to pressure from extremist elements and that cannot continue," said Deputy 'Tory' Andrew Bridgen. "It is like surrendering to violent hordes," Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said for his part, following the London mayor's decision to "protect" not only the Churchill statue, but also other monuments such as the Cenotaph in memory. of the fallen in World War II and the effigies of George Washington and King James II in Trafalgar Square.

The statue of Winston Churchill in London, protected with a fence.TOLGA AKMEN / AFP

Boris Johnson himself has condemned the attacks on the police during the recent protests as "intolerable and aberrant" (35 officers were injured in the clashes last weekend) and has warned that the protests "have been hijacked by extremists to cause violence "

"We all understand the legitimate feelings of anger at what happened in Minnesota [George Floyd's death at the hands of the police] and the legitimate desire to protest discrimination," Johnson acknowledged. "Despite this country's progress in combating racism - which has been enormous - we still have a lot of work to do."

"But we cannot now attempt to censor our past ," said the conservative leader, referring to the revision of the statues and plaques ordered by more than 130 municipalities, following the demolition of the effigy of slaver Edward Colston in Bristol.

"We cannot pretend that the story was different. The statues were erected in our cities by past generations with different perspectives. Those statues teach us about our past."

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