06/08/2024
Last week I witnessed the best of Britain and the worst of Britain.
I was visiting my extended family in the Northwest, and whilst in Southport last Friday saw the tribute garden set up by Sefton Council. The area in front of the Town Hall was awash with tears and flowers, as people from across the community paid their respects to the three murdered young girls, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar. This was the Best of Britain, united, caring, compassionate.
We went to buy flowers, and were told that the council would prefer plants, as these would be replanted as a permanent memorial to the three girls, a simple and wonderful lasting tribute.
Sian, my 16 yr. old granddaughter laid the purple plant she chose in an ocean of colour, balloons, cards, and photographs. It was a sombre, poignant moment, redolent in grief and sadness.
The following afternoon we were in Liverpool and witnessed the worst of Britian, Police protecting a Theatre, the Everyman, from thugs and hooligans, whilst their colleagues fought running battles with mindless yobs intent on looting and destruction. (Just as in Ealing in 2011, Waterstones was untouched, an omission which speaks volumes.)
These are not two sides of the same coin; they are not even the same currency. One comes from a community united in grief, decent hard working people of every race and faith, coming together to support each other.
The other is a cesspit of hate and ignorance fed by bile, bile ladled on by those seeking to promote their own personal agenda, who could not give two hoots about the consequences, as long as their followers increase, and their GB News audience goes up.
Across the country there has been an avalanche of hate fuelled by these populist agitators intent on sowing foment and discord, and they have found a gullible audience seduced by their lies.
Condemning the rioters out of hand is not enough we need to attack the root cause of the disease. The person who tweeted the lie about the identity of the murderer should feel the full force of the law and receive a severe sentence for incitement, as should those who blindly retweeted it. (People face libel actions for untrue tweets; this is much worse; this is sedition)
The social media companies who published the tweet should also be in the dock, as accessories to a riot. Their algorithms swiftly remove copyrighted music and block the posters. Their lack of will to expunge the internet from this vile propaganda is shameful. Hit them in their pocket, make them pay for rebuilding the communities they have helped to destroy.
Those who rioted or looted, destroying businesses and livelihoods, should not only face the full force of the law, but they should also lose any council or social housing tenancies, and be sacked from public sector jobs. You cannot be allowed to draw down from the state when you then attack the community that funds it.
After 7/7, a bombing I witnessed, I drew strength from London standing together side by side saying no one can divide us.
That spirit exists across the country and needs to assert itself. Together we are stronger than a million Tommy Robinsons, and we need to stand up now and say, “not in my name.”
That did not happen in 1938. It must happen now.
Cllr Paul Canal
6th August 2024
