I woke up this morning to the news that Sir Winston Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square had been boarded up overnight. I also saw an image of the Cenotaph partially covered. 

Churchill had racist views. But so did the vast majority of people at that time. We have moved on. We rightly don’t think like that anymore. Churchill is not commemorated because of those views. He is commemorated because he led this country to victory in its greatest hour of need. He is regarded as the greatest Briton, and rightly so. 

Andrew Allison, Head of Campaigns

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has horrified the world. Derek Chauvin, the police officer who pinned him down with his knee on his neck, despite Floyd clearly telling him that he could not breathe, cannot be justified, and it is correct that Chauvin and his three former colleagues are prosecuted. But that did not justify the scenes we witnessed in central London yesterday. 

I was genuinely shocked when I saw a picture of the protest in Hyde Park yesterday afternoon. We still have a right to protest; of course we do, but during the current restrictions we have to protest in a way that does not spread COVID-19. This begs the question: why were so many people allowed to congregate breaking social distancing guidelines?