Boris Johnson confirms vandals who attack war memorials WILL face tougher laws after Black Lives Matter protests and defended controversial No10 aide setting up racism probe amid ‘war on woke’ claims
- PM said attacks on public property will be ‘met with the full force of the law’
- Cenotaph and Winston Churchill statue targeted by BLM protesters
- Memorial to terror attack victim PC Keith Palmer urinated on in far-right demo
Boris Johnson today confirmed that protesters desecrating war memorials will face tough new laws in the wake of demonstrations across Britain.
The Prime Minister used Prime Ministers Questions to warn that attacks on public property will be ‘met with the full force of the law’.
Ministers are believed to be considering sentences of up to 10 years for the worst offenders, after the Cenotaph and a statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill were targeted by Black Lives Matter protesters.
Additionally, a far-right protester was later jailed for 14 days for urination next to a memorial to a police officer killed in a terror attack on Parliament, while at a demo ostensibly trying to protect statues.
Mr Johnson told the Commons this afternoon: ‘I can also confirm we are looking at new ways in which we may legislate against vandalism of war memorials.’
The Prime Minister used Prime Ministers Questions to warn that attacks on public property will be ‘met with the full force of the law’
Ministers are believed to be considering sentences of up to 10 years for the worst offenders, after the Cenotaph and a statue of wartime leader Winston Churchill were targeted by Black Lives Matter protesters
Additionally, a far-right protester was later jailed for 14 days for urination next to a memorial to a police officer killed in a terror attack on Parliament, while at a demo ostensibly trying to protect statues
Mr Johnson also insisted he is a ‘huge admirer’ of one of his aides who has previously questioned the existence of institutional racism and hit out at a ‘culture of grievance’ among anti-racism campaigners.
Downing Street advisers are said to be keen for the PM to take high-profile stands on cultural issues, focusing on improving life chances rather than bowing to pressure from the Left.
The choice of Munira Mirza, the head Mr Johnson’s policy unit, to set up the new race commission appears to be a sign of the government’s approach.
Supporters say she is an advocate of data-driven policies, but campaigners and Labour MPs say she is a denier of institutional racism and should not be playing a key role in the response to the BLM protests.
They also raised concerns over her alleged decision to give a role to Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, who has angered some with past comments on British Asian communities.
The Prime Minister was asked if he agreed with Dr Mirza on her ‘culture of grievance’ remark, to which he replied in the Commons: ‘I am a huge admirer of Dr Munira Mirza, who is a brilliant thinker about these issues and we are certainly going to proceed with a new cross-governmental commission to look at racism and discrimination.
‘It will be a very thorough piece of work looking at discrimination in health, in education, in the criminal justice system.
‘It is clear from the Black Lives Matter march and all representations that we’ve had that more work needs to be done.’
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