Therearenotwosidesto Britain’sslavepast

There was an inevitability about it.

Following two weekends on the trot of violence, mainly in London but also elsewhere in UK cities, regular correspondent Mr McMillan has to jump in with his usual comments as he himself sees the situation (PA, June 16).

It’s certainly true that following extremely unfortunate, to say the least, happenings in the United States, the movement Black Lives Matter decided that it had to protest these events, and members of the public in their hundreds, perhaps thousands, saw fit to join them in so doing.

It is unacceptable I agree to have seen the levels of violence which went on in these protests, however wellintentioned the organisers and those ordinary people taking part might have been.

It can be fairly said that public disorder, in the eyes of the general population, lessens sympathy with any cause, no matter how noble it might be, and that is something which certainly should be borne in mind.

One wonders however when Mr McMillan’s epistle was penned? In successive weekends we have witnessed unpalatable scenes of violence in London. The first weekend being a perceived left of centre issue, and one I am sure Mr McMillan particularly objected to. The disorder the next weekend though was different.

This was right-wing orientated. We had the ironic situation that those protesters who were there were present with the avowed intention of preserving and protecting statues of various public figures from years and centuries past.

These “patriots” took part in an even worse battle with the forces of law and order, and in fact, one of these enlightened individuals was caught on camera urinating on the memorial to a brave police officer who gave his life protecting the democratic institutions of which we are all proud.

Nothing particularly patriotic in that act.

Presumably Mr McMillan’s justified anger relates to what went on in both weekends, be these left- or right-wing protests?

I must take issue though with a couple of Mr McMillan’s statements. He says it’s a protest of the young? Unless some of these persons from the right taking part in last weekend’s riot are regularly taking a course in botox injections, they were hardly in the first flush of youth.

Maybe not quite ready to draw the pension, but a good few of the bad boys on view won’t see 30, or even 40 again.

It’s not just young persons that feel they have concerns about perceived issues facing society, older people can do so also, on either side of the political, societal or climate debate.

Mr McMillan goes on to say