Street protests in this country rarely achieve the aims of the protesters.
That’s why, with reluctance, authorities allow it. Letting off steam in public is a useful safety valve for explosive social tension.
When the demonstrators go home, the Government gets on with what it intended to do, even if millions object.
Tony Blair took the nation to war in Iraq and the Tories imposed the bedroom tax and abolition of the over-75s’ free TV licences despite overwhelming opposition.
The only time a protest succeeded in recent times was the Poll Tax riot of 1990. London burned, and they had to abolish the hated “community charge”.
The Black Lives Matter protest has to be seen in that historical context. It’s always worth going out to have a go, but don’t expect much to change quickly.
And the Tories always exploit fringe violence to discredit the aims of the protesters. Boris Johnson dived straight into the gutter, dismissing the rallies as “subverted by thuggery”.
He promised not to ignore the protest, but offers no programme of reform. Only London Mayor Sadiq Khan has acted, setting up a commission to deliver change.
Defacing or pulling down statues of slavers and colonialists may satisfy the lust of cultural iconoclasts. I’m not clear what it does for the life chances of young black and minority ethnic people.
Weirdly, it’s even suggested that Harold Wilson should be dragged from his plinth in Huddersfield. He was the premier who set up the pioneering Race Relations Board, and famously denounced racist Tory MP Peter Griffiths as “a parliamentary leper”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak says: “A better society doesn’t happen overnight. Like all great acts of creation, it happens slowly, and depends on the cooperation of each one of us toward that common goal.”
Wiser words than his boss.
Put the offending statues in a slavery theme park, by all means, but prioritise education, jobs and life skills for the rising BAME generation.
