Forum Topic

Winston Churchill statue

Fantastic scenes on twitter from Parliament Square.Many thousands of people singing "He's one of our own, he's one of our own, Winston Churchill, he's one of our own."After all, none of us would be here if it wasn't for the heroics of Winston Churchill.Finally something that makes me proud of this country after all the recent protests trying to bring this country down.

Mike Essam ● 2340d37 Comments

Totally agree Mike.

Sue Hammond ● 2340d

Who is not "one of our own"?If one may ask?

Ed Robinson ● 2340d

sorry to be pedantic...but 'none of us would be here'.....?

Matt Palmer ● 2340d

In answer to Ed Robinson I would not describe somebody trying to burn the Union Flag on the Cenotaph as 'one of our own.'

Leslie McDonnell ● 2340d

Are you seeing the same scenes as I am? White unprovoked violent football hooligans. Just unbelievable.

Simon Sharp ● 2340d

"Back in central London, demonstrators have clashed with police close to Westminster Bridge, with glass bottles thrown towards the officers and their vans, PA Media reports.At least one officer had a baton held up towards the protesters who are chanting “You let your country down”, towards them.Other protesters in Parliament Square have marched towards the boarded-up monument of Churchill.Singing Rule Britannia and the national anthem, some had started banging on the sides of the covering."Hope this hasn't dented your patriotic feelings this afternoon

Simon Sharp ● 2340d

There are plenty of white and black brain-dead hooligans just out to cause trouble at these demonstrations.  Not the right way to unite people.

Sue Hammond ● 2340d

I wonder if you're still so "proud" of these "fantastic scenes" in Parliament Square, with thuggish, drunken brutes abusing the police and journalists who are reporting from the scene, throwing bottles and other missiles?

Richard Carter ● 2340d

Earlier today BLM cancelled its gathering so the 'protesters' referred to now are right wing 'defenders of English history' assembled to protect statues from coming to any harm.  But nobody was trying to harm the statutes so there was nothing for them to do - except have a few drinks and fight with the police.

Peter Evans ● 2340d

Nazi salutes apparently being made by some  who are there to defend Churchill's statue.Not the UK's finest hour to coin a phase.I'm sure some will now say they are not 'one of our own'!But they are, all of them! Including the person that burns the Union Jack or one that Nazi salutes. We all need to own this problem and find solutions.It has to starts with truth and a better understanding of our history.

Ed Robinson ● 2340d

The Nazi salutes are absolutely deplorable. Winston must be turning in his grave. What the hell did our parents and grandparents do to deserve this?Being part of the Forgotten Army my father wasn't a huge fan of Winston who let Singapore fall so disastrously to the Japanese, but he marched to the Cenotaph with other Jewish servicemen for many years remembering  his fallen colleagues and was well aware of Winston's role in preventing Fascism from taking over Britain. Today I am devastated on my parents' behalf.

Lucille Grant ● 2340d

Here's another scene for Mike Essam to be "proud" of (though oddly, he seems to have gone very quiet since his early boast about this). It shows a man urinating on a memorial erected to honour PC Keith Palmer, the police officer who was killed while protecting Parliament during the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack in 2017. Ellwood had desperately performed CPR on Palmer at the time of the attack but the officer could not be saved.  The plaque was erected outside the Houses of Parliament last February as a lasting tribute to Palmer’s bravery and sacrifice. Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood tweeted this about it:

Richard Carter ● 2340d

And here's a more recent picture of the patriots, defenders of Christian civilisation or whatever, at the junction of Parliament Square and Whitehall. And remember how someone castigated the BLM demonstrators for their "idiotic" lack of social distancing? Not much social distancing going on here!

Richard Carter ● 2340d

They turned out to be thugs didn’t they. Priti Patel has condemned them. Pretty shocking stuff wouldn’t you agree?

Jonathan Callaway ● 2340d

They just seemed to be out for a "good" fight. They seemed vague as to what they were supporting ... Are they "any of ours"? Whatever that means ...

Michael Ixer ● 2340d

Unfortunately they are ours in the sense that are English and live in our community (possibly not too many of them from Putney).

Jonathan Callaway ● 2340d

There was an odd thing about this demonstration/riot: it was unlike any other demo I've seen: no speeches or anything organised, just a lot of brutish-looking men standing around unable to think of anything to do but drink, which they were doing with something like enthusiasm. And the roads were copiously littered with empty beer cans that they didn't have the wit or the consideration to dispose of properly.

Richard Carter ● 2340d

@Lucille & EdI've been listening to LBC all afternoon because it's had live reporting from all the demonstrations.  The reporter covering the London protests was asked by Clive Ball if Nazi salutes were really being made because the media pictures were not really clear enough for him to make up his mind. The reporter said that in his opinion the demonstrators were raising their arms and pointing in anger, not saluting.

Sue Hammond ● 2340d

@Mike Essam. Genuinely interested on your view now of today’s events. Not that these “events” are over yet. I think they’ve still got some beer left.

Jonathan Callaway ● 2340d

So they've metaphorically "burnt" the Union's flag as they're English and one of them apparently put an English flag on Churchill's statue (or its temporary box); so is that goodbye to Scotand, Wales and Northern Ireland. (The tribalism of football?) Is that much different to actually burning it as the young woman did !ast week presumably because of historical and current racism experienced by her and her ancestors? 

Michael Ixer ● 2340d

The BBC reported also said he hadn't seen any Nazi salutes personally. The well document incident is the right wing protester urinating on PC Palmer's memorial. 

Michael Ixer ● 2340d

He's already said, Jonathan: he was very proud of the fantastic scenes there - and note that the violence started in Parliament Square right at the beginning of the event, so they didn't even have the excuse that they had been drinking all day.

Richard Carter ● 2340d

Never too late for an epiphany!

Jonathan Callaway ● 2340d

I agree sue. Both sides seem to have their fair share of thugs. I don't entirely hold with this white privilege idea. I doubt a poor working class child from a counsel estate in a deprived area with little or no parental support wakes up each morning and basks in their so called privilege.

John Geoffries ● 2340d

Reported by the Telegraph: "A small number gave Nazi salutes yards from the Cenotaph."I searched through some video but I'm not clear what specific incident they are referring to -  assuming it is on video and  has been uploaded.We shall have to see what evidence comes out later. Ed Clowes report may be interesting.

Ed Robinson ● 2340d

Would the Telegraph get it wrong?

David Ainsworth ● 2340d

Sounds like a lot of racist scumbags falsely claiming Sir Winston for their own. Subsequent TV news footage confirms it. Are you an ageing skinhead or just a Russian troll? No worries, you;ll get a few followers on this site without much effort.

Michael Winstanley ● 2340d

Well, the heroic "Statue Defenders" have successfully protected the metal-sheathed statues today. Apparently though, it was the Metropolitan Police from whom these ironclads needed to be defended by might and main. Who'd have thought it?  Of course, I may have grabbed the wrong end of the truncheon inadvertently.

David Ainsworth ● 2340d

"Finally something that makes me proud of this country after all the recent protests trying to bring this country down."You must have been really proud of the large group of rightwing "Monuments Men" harassing and spitting on 4 picnickers in Hyde Park yesterday. Who is really trying to bring this country down?

David Ainsworth ● 2339d

Mr Essam'Many thousands of people singing "He's one of our own, he's one of our own, Winston Churchill, he's one of our own."And I am sure included amongst the singers was the man who urinated over the memorial to murdered PC Keith Palmer.Yes indeed - "Makes yer prahed to be British dun it"

John Hawkes ● 2339d

Mr McDonnellWould you include the man who urinated next to the memorial to murdered PC Keith Palmer 'one of your own' ?

John Hawkes ● 2339d

Mr EssamPerhaps you are unaware that this chant is used mainly at football matches lauding a particular club favourite.The people you are siding with often include the  DFLA. "What is the Democratic Football Lads Alliance and why were they protesting today?The Democratic Football Lads Alliance is a far-right group which formed after a split in the original Football Lads Alliance.The original group was initially formed as an “anti-extremist” group but was increasingly associated with far-right beliefs" - from today's Sun Online.They are proto facists though probably too thick to really understand the term nor articulate their beliefs.Does that apply to you also as your understanding of the aspect of Churchill's role in our country's WWII trials you mention seems to be a bit shaky.He led us AGAINST the Nazis, a fascist group that arose from the Brownshirts, a more smartly uniformed group than our fat men in shorts namely the DFLA.And you praise them !!

John Hawkes ● 2339d

Mr WinstanleyMr Essam is not a Russian troll because Ms Hammond is on first name terms with him !

John Hawkes ● 2339d

@HawkesF O

Sue Hammond ● 2339d

"F O"Ms HammondI think this is an example of the sort of comments these rioting thugs were shouting at the police (when not urinating in public).What team do you support ?!!

John Hawkes ● 2339d

Mr EssamNice people you associate yourself with !https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11859068/thug-spits-woman-hyde-park-protest/

John Hawkes ● 2339d

@Hawkes 14.07FFCDon't get mixed up with the urban dictionary ...

Sue Hammond ● 2339d