“We have to tackle the substance of the problem, not the symbols,” said Boris Johnson (File)
London:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is setting up a commission to examine “all aspects of inequality” after the racial protests in Britain.
Writing in the Telegraph newspaper on Monday, Johnson said there was “much more that we need to do” to combat racism despite “huge progress”, and argued that the “substance” of the problem should be addressed , rather than “symbols”.
There have been Black Lives Matter protests in cities in the United Kingdom since the police assassination of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in the United States on May 25, and on Saturday extreme groups right gathered in London to fight anti-racism. protesters.
“It is time for an intergovernmental commission to address all aspects of inequality – in employment, in health outcomes, in academia and in all other areas,” writes Johnson in the article, which was also published online Sunday evening. .
“We have to tackle the substance of the problem, not the symbols.”
Race activists called for the removal of statues of historic figures, and the overthrow of a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in the 17th century in the port city of Bristol in the south-west of the country considered a defining moment in the British Black Lives Matter movement.
But Boris Johnson insisted that a bronze sculpture of warlord Winston Churchill – who some activists say was racist – in front of the British Parliament in Westminster, remains in place.
“We must approach the present, not try to rewrite the past – and that means that we cannot and must not allow ourselves to be drawn into an endless debate over the well-known historical figure which is sufficiently pure or politically correct to remain in public view, “wrote the Prime Minister.
Boris Johnson condemned the “thugs” who gathered in central London on Saturday to “protect” the statue of Churchill, which has been disfigured in recent weeks.
“It was absolutely absurd that a load of far-right thugs and bovver boys gathered this weekend in London to protect the statue of Winston Churchill,” wrote the 55-year-old prime minister and biographer. from Churchill.
“He was a hero, and I expect that I will not be the only one to say that I will resist every breath of my body to any attempt to remove this statue from Parliament Square, and the sooner will be his protective shield, the better “
Johnson suggested that instead of demolishing statues, more should be built of people considered “worthy of commemoration” by the current generation.
The Prime Minister was called a racist himself following an article in the Telegraph published in 2002 in which he called blacks “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
