Poppy day insult as Albanians hold f lag protest at Churchill statue
ALBANIAN demonstrators caused outrage yesterday by clambering over Sir Winston Churchill’s statue in London and cloaking it in their national flag.
More than 1,500 protesters had gathered to demand the Government respect their human rights after Home Secretary Suella Braverman said Britain faced an ‘invasion’ of illegal migrants.
But when they reached Parliament Square, a group headed to the statue of Britain’s war leader, an act some politicians said was calculated to cause insult.
As the Albanians filmed themselves standing on the monument, Armed Forces veterans preparing for today’s Remembrance Sunday event looked on in disgust nearby.
Tory MP Sir John Hayes said: ‘This is deeply offensive as we gather in remembrance to the fallen this weekend. How did they think draping their country’s flag over a monument to a national hero was anything but insulting, appalling and counter-productive to what they wanted to achieve?’
Protesters also blocked roads in Westminster for two hours, chanting ‘Shame on you’. One man held a placard proclaiming: ‘I am Albanian, I am not a criminal, I work very hard & pay more tax than the Prime Minister’s wife.’ Others held signs saying ‘We need the UK Government to apologise’.
Organisers said the march was to ‘protest against the humiliation of Albanians in Britain’ after they felt they were blamed for ‘the increase in criminality’ in the UK.
Ms Braverman last month caused a furore with her ‘invasion’ comments. She has since doubled-down on her vow to stem the flow of illegal cross-Channel migrants, 42 per cent of whom are Albanian.
Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama later accused the UK of discriminating against his people to distract from its ‘policy failures’.
One of the protesters, 41-yearold Fehmi Shehi, hit out at Ms Braverman. He said: ‘I’ve lived here 25 years. I don’t accept the Home Secretary calling us all criminals. It’s very offensive.’
‘This was offensive, insulting and appalling’