Tyson Fury has called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to defend a statue of Winston Churchill amid Black Lives Matter marches in London.
A statue of Churchill, who was prime minister in Britain between 1940 and 1945 and then again from 1951 to 1955, stands in Parliament Square, and scaffolding was filmed being put up around the monument on Thursday evening.
The move came amid fears of clashes on Saturday between right-wing groups, who vowed to “defend” selected memorials, and Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
The wartime prime minister’s figure was targeted with graffiti during a march last weekend, while a demonstrator tried to set a union flag on the Cenotaph alight. Police fear that demonstrators will attempt to vandalise or remove controversial memorials following last week’s toppling of the statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol.
And WBC heavyweight champion Fury has waded into the debate, writing on Twitter: “RIP #worldsgreatestleader.
“@BorisJohnson grow a pair. Do not let anyone desecrate our great leader’s monument. #ILOVEYOUENGLAND.”
The boxer also attached a photo of an Instagram post he has shared that carried a similar sentiment.
“This is the great man Sir Winston Churchill, a man who saved millions of lives in the UK and around the world,” the 31-year-old wrote.
“He made it possible to live in the world we know today, don’t forget if [Adolf] Hitler would [have] won the war there would be no Black, Gyspy, Jew in Europe as he would [have] killed them all.
“We owe our lives to this legend of a leader, Sir Winston Churchill I salute you as a patriot of England & the world heavyweight boxing champion & the Gyspy King.”
