Labour accuses Boris of Trump-like behaviour
A LABOUR frontbencher was criticised yesterday for comparing Boris Johnson’s defence of SirWinston Churchill’s statue to Donald Trump’s attitude to white supremacists two years earlier.
Last summer the Prime Minister spoke out about the “shameful” threat to the war leader’s monument during a wave of demonstrations.
However, yesterday Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy drew parallels with a violent far-right rally over a statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 that the former US leader had been reluctant to condemn.
She also accused Tories of trying to start a “culture war” over LGBT and trans rights. She said: “We had the Prime Minister trying to start a culture war over a statue of Churchill and the same pattern of behaviour in relation to trans rights. In 2019, No 10 was polling the red walls to see if it could start a culture war in northern towns over LGBT rights.”
Mr Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton dismissed the polling claims and insisted he will always stand up for the UK’s history and traditions.
She said: “Labour may think it’s wrong to stand up to people who are attacking a statue of our great wartime leader, and one of the Prime Minister’s heroes, but Boris Johnson and this party will always stand up for our culture, history and traditions and for the greatWinston Churchill.”
His statue in Parliament Square was boarded up last June after a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol. Meanwhile, Ms Nandy praised new US President Joe Biden for defending transgender rights and supporting the Black Lives Matter campaign and suggested Labour will be inspired by his strategy. She also said he was “a source of hope for a lot of progressive parties around the world”. Ms Nandy added: “He’s a woke guy, he appointed an amazingly strong woman of colour who is also pro-choice as his running mate, he mentioned the trans community in his victory speech, he stood up for the Black Lives Matter protesters, he spoke out about the policing of that movement, and never shied away from standing up for his values.
“People know exactly who he is. And he equally won’t be diverted off course when he wants to talk about the economy, when he wants to talk about Covid.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is analysing Mr Biden’s victory, particularly the Democrats’ strategy for winning over socially conservative working-class areas.