The comedian-activist Russell Brand has denounced Friday’s minute of silence in memory of the victims killed in Tunisia as “bullshit”.
In his latest video comment on current affairs, Brand dismisses the planned tribute – one week after the atrocity in Sousse – as “an empty, futile gesture, part of a general policy of bullshit”.
During the planned minute of silence, flags will be flown at half-mast over Whitehall departments and Buckingham Palace one week after 38 people were killed, including 30 Britons, by gunman Seifeddine Rezgui. Nine more bodies were repatriated on Thursday afternoon following the eight that were flown to the UK on Wednesday.
Brand said the source of the problem was British foreign policy, including drone attacks, arms sales to countries that abused human rights and “foreign activity in Muslim countries which obviously provokes this kind of response”.
In the video, which is interspersed with clips of David Cameron, Brand said the minute’s silence failed to address the source of the problem.
“There’s no point in having a minute’s silence as long as during that time they continue to sell arms, they continue to bomb foreign countries. They have no interest in a solution,” said Brand. “Their only interest is to perpetuate the problem and to continue to profit from it.”
