The aircraft towing the pictured banner, G-ENEA (a Cessna 182P Skylane), is registered to Air-ads.com.

Defence commentators Seb H, BDC and Intel Air & Sea deserve mention and a hat tip here for bringing this to light and doing the detective work.

https://twitter.com/bdc_1234/status/1275158814417924101

Aircraft tracking technology allowed the aircraft and the owners of the aircraft to be established very quickly. Below is information on the registration of the aircraft from the CAA.

Air-ads.com desribe themselves as an aerial advertising and banner towing company who, “by using a custom made plane banner and / or lettering combinations, aim to help you reach your audience in a unique and cost-effective manner”.

No photo description available.
Image via S Haggart
No photo description available.
Image via S Haggart

In a statement released by the club, Burnley said:

“Burnley Football Club strongly condemns the actions of those responsible for the aircraft and offensive banner that flew over The Etihad Stadium on Monday evening. We wish to make it clear that those responsible are not welcome at Turf Moor. This, in no way, represents what Burnley Football Club stands for and we will work fully with the authorities to identify those responsible and issue lifetime bans. The club has a proud record of working with all genders, religions and faiths through its award-winning Community scheme, and stands against racism of any kind.

We are fully behind the Premier League’s Black Lives Matter initiative and, in line with all other Premier League games undertaken since Project Restart, our players and football staff willingly took the knee at kick-off at Manchester City. We apologise unreservedly to the Premier League, to Manchester City and to all those helping to promote Black Lives Matter.”

We have contacted the ad company for comment and will update this as and when they respond.

George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison

219 COMMENTS

  1. Their right to say what they want but they also deserve every last bit of scorn they’ll inevitably draw from this. Freedom of speech isn’t freedom from consequence

    • What exactly is so offensive? May I draw your attention to the forgotten white working class of generation z who feel utterly left behind and scorned upon thanks to positive discrimination and offensive virtue signalling?
      Get out into the trenches rather than comment from behind the desk.

      • I agree. The areas around Burnley are a classic example of a working class town where immigration followed by decline in traditional industries has led to what you call “generation z”.

        The current demonstrations are concocted by the far left… and not so far… left agitators, who are happy to smear Churchill’s statue and create mayhem.
        The problems in America are nothing to do with us, and it seems me the speed its erupted here shows it’s planned.

        All lives matter, And I for one take all people as I find them, and all people should have equal opportunities. But there should be no appeasement to these agitators who are out to destroy our society, both from within and without.

        • ‘The current demonstrations are concocted by the far left… and not so far… left agitators, who are happy to smear Churchill’s statue and create mayhem’

          I’m not so far left and wouldn’t dream of defacing any statue, let alone WC. It isn’t some wild leftie plot to destroy society from within, but anger at discrimination. I agree that it’s nowhere near as bad as in the USA but it still exists. The ones who have been the most violent was the bunch doing Nazi salutes at The Cenotaph (great knowledge of its significance there ), assaulting police officers, and then claiming, laughably, that the Met are part of a left wing plot.

          • The current demonstrations are concocted by the far left, with goals along the lines of “abolishing capitalism” and “defunding the police”. They are hiding behind the “BLM” title to prevent any criticism of their organisation and to sucker in well meaning but ignorant people to the cause.
            The whole thing stinks, and it seriously weakens our society.
            I’m afraid to say discrimination is everywhere for everyone. Are you posh with a “working class” manager? You’ll be discriminated against. Are you working class with a posh manager, same story. There are countless other examples of discrimination and only a small percentage of them are due to race.
            Ironically, people who can fit into a certain minority quota, are actually the less likely bunch of people to be discriminated against as there is so much (a lot would say disproportionate) legal backing on their side and sensitivity around the subject. Its getting to the point where positive discrimination is a serious issue, that movements like BLM will just make worse. Classic example is a teacher in a class where one child is misbehaving badly, the teacher cannot correct the child as he fits into one of the left wing minority brackets, when other children misbehave the teacher comes down disproportionately harder on them.
            I think this is what sticks in a lot of peoples throats. You cannot get rid of discrimination, its an non sensical goal. You can give certain minorities even more specialist treatment over the majority, but ironically this just further agitates the situation.
            IMO, the only way to get around this is
            1. to seriously sort out our countries mass immigration problem. Whilst you have large volumes (i.e. 100’s of thousands) of new people arriving in the country, it is very hard to get people to assimilate or see why they should bother.
            2. Push much further towards a meritocracy based society, if you work hard you get results, and ethnicity etc doesn’t come into it.
            I appreciate that is significantly harder to achieve than it sounds, but its the right cause to address. It isn’t fair that people get jobs just based on who their parents are friends with, but if you don’t tackle the true cause you wont get true change.

            Sadly I cannot see any of this happens, all I can see is more division and more stoked up resentment.

          • Don’t forget the army veterans defending the cenotaph HF, not just the far right beered up hooligans.

            The statues business as far as I’m concerned in orchestrated by the far left Marxists, not the majority who demonstrate on the race issue.

          • Morning H. This is a serious discussion. No Reds in my Bunker!

            Are you saying though they don’t exist in this statue business?

          • I wouldn’t say they do not exist but I also would not say they do. Unless there is definitive evidence? Often these demonstrations are overtaken by extreme elements that detract from the real message. But that goes both ways. There are far right and far left trying to destroy society all the time… However there are also a lot of very genuinely angry people too, so we would need to understand exactly who the people were who defaced the statues. Remember it would also be in the interests of the far right to deface them in order to make the other side look bad. So it is a complex situation and not one that can be assessed without evidence.

          • Have you checked under your bed Daniele…bound to be a red lurking there?

            You probably are herodotus. Worse maybe even not aware.

          • That’s okay AlexS…I understand that Wetherspoons will be opening up again shortly. Meanwhile, keep reading the Telegraph, they have always done a good line on lefty conspiracy theories 🙂

          • Those you describe as doing nazi salutes were in fact chanting at the police lines (where were you last week) and pointing in exactly the same way they do on the football terraces when chanting such well known ditties as ‘the referee’s a w*nker’. HF, your accusation is misguided, if understandable considering the portrayal in the msm.

          • Unfortunatly HF the SWP have stated that they need to take advantage of the current situation with BLM protests, and push their SWP agenda. The extreme left are taking advantage, as now are the extreme right (cheeks of the same arse in my opinion) of the nasty undercurrents and uncertainty of the establishment of how to progress. Even for the lazy researcher, just browsing the crowd will show the usual SWP placards, stating similar chuff as the previous demo they went to. Can I ask how the removal of a capatilist system, closure of all prisons and detention centres, and the abolition of the police, will help young teenage black lads from working class estates (lets not mention the higher number of white lads in a similar situation). The statue situaion is just a very visual demonstration of the lefts efforts at pushing its rather limited view and agenda. You learn from history, celebrate the good bits, learn from the bad…………hid it at your peril!

          • You’re not asking me the question about the SWP I hope. I’m left of centre but have no truck with the SWP and similar. As you say extreme left and right are just as bad. The thing I don’t like is the blanket term ‘the left’ as though being left is unpatriotic and just the same as the SWP. Of course the same fault exists in parts of the left, equating being right wing with being extreme right wing. I suppose it will never change….

          • Your absolutely correct, in that we do tend to lump together certain extremes within groups, and lazily term them left and right! Being left of centre, of course can mean being patriotic (some with a small p, others big P) as most working class people tend to be! It’s all about agendas, and the extreme of each side pushing its narrow view, making the most noise, which equates to headlines, and therefore the cause and reason being pushed aside!

            I’m just a bit disappointed that many on both sides don’t take time to learn the history, they just grab a headline and follow it, making the bandwagon unstoppable. Learn the history, use common sense and make an informed judgment. Destroying public property, statues and invoking the wrath of a narrative, smacks to me of a time, not long ago, when a geezer with a shitty tash decided his people should become his sheep, change their history, and follow his view of how the world should be! Scary times today as common sense is becoming distinctly less so. Cheers.

          • Well dang me…..best inform the Daily Mail about that one. Time to man the barricades chaps….break out the Union Jacks and belt out a chorus of ‘Rule Britannia’. You know that one, don’t you, the one with the line about Britons never, never, never shall be slaves….oh!!

          • Go to the black lives matters website. Click donate. You will be directed to the ActBlue server. Google who ActBlue are:

            ActBlue is a nonprofit technology organization established in June 2004 that enables Democrats, progressive groups, and nonprofits to raise money on the Internet by providing them with online fundraising software. Its stated mission is to “empower small-dollar donors”

            i.e. Black Lives Matter – the institution is aligned with the Democrats in the US.

            Watch this video, go to 3:21
            https://youtu.be/rdpIIiBe7Wc

            The founder of BLM state they are trained activists and Marxists.

            Do not think for one moment they are not motivated by a political, revolutionary ideology – they are.

            Yes, they do care about Black Lives – and yes they want to tear everything down and start again and BLM is one of the vehicles for this.

      • It is political offensive to those of a Revolutionary religion that want to build a a narrative that they want to forbid being discussed.

        So their tactics are to shun, bully, attack, make political violence to those that refuse to follow the script.

        The persons that put that banner in the airplane committed Blasphemy in their eyes.
        So they attack here the aircraft company.

        I will also commit an even worse Blasphemy here: “All lives matter including the unborn”

        Remember these OP post by the author when he will talk about polite society, education , and civilization and there is need of free inquiry.

    • Why? please justify your comment. Are we curently in a place where freedom of speach only applies to those who make the loudest noise?

      • Freedom of speech and thought are just that. Violence and property destruction in pursuit of political aims is terrorism. Frankly the tech giants and most media censor, vilify and hound anyone is not on the left or even those on the left who do not tow the party line: the Federalist, Zero Hedge, Katie Hopkins, Laura Loomer, Germaine Greer, JK Rowling, the radical feminists of a Woman’s Place, Julie Bindle. The list goes on. You may not like any of those I just mentioned but they are not as extreme as their counterparts on the left but they have been hounded by the tech companies and mobs of left wing activists. The media is part of that mob. There has been no censorship of BLM indeed they have been lauded.

    • mmmmm — so why is a political campaign focusing in on one ethnic group okay: Black Lives Matter. But an Ad saying “White Lives Matter” is not okay.

      We all agree that George Floyds death was wrong and those police men need to punished by the full force of the law. I’m not sure, however, what relevance it has politically here in the UK where, though we do have our own discrimination issues, “death by Cop” is mercifully rare.

      Maybe the rich footballers “taking the knee” might, instead of making what is essentially a “free” gesture of support, share out some of their vast wads cash with the poor up and down the country. After all, their extraordinary levels of pay for being able to kick a ball is funded by the regular payments of millions of ordinary punters of all races via inflated prices on the Terraces and with Pay-TV.

      Flying that banner doesn’t help and is stupid, but hardly scornful.

      • Because you misunderstand the whole thing… Saying black lives matter is not the same as saying no one else matters, It is simply reminding people that there is a large section of our society that is often seen as less important. If the slogan “White Lives Matter” was being used to highlight a section of society that is being persecuted then it would likely be okay, However that plane was flown over specifically to cause offence. White lives do matter but that is not really the point here. We have a severe inequality in our society that needs to be put right but has been ignored by successive Governments.

        • So it is the intention of the statement, rather than the statement itself, that causes offence? Then how do you interpret what the intention is, if not from the statement itself? Seems to be the whole case in a nutshell. Even if it is self explanatory that both black and white lives matter, only one statement is subject to censorship and cannot be mentioned without causing offence?

        • No – Black Lives Matter is an extreme organisation with the goal of defunding the police. The statement and continuing spouting of the Term “Black Lives Matter” is now part of a wider political conspiracy to devalue and cancel western history and culture.

          That aircraft with the message would not have been there had the BLM movement not targeted the wider western society and culture for cancellation.

          And as we seen on the TV, BLM has managed increase racial tension across the world. Just what we needed in the tail end of a pandemic.

          Inequality in the UK, and indeed any western country, is a bigger issue than just race. The BLM movement has been guilty of ignoring the vast majority of people who struggle with poverty. Maybe they see flying that plane over the Etihaad as their way of being heard.

          Why does their need to be heard offend you?

        • “Saying black lives matter is not the same as saying no one else matters”

          Disagree, and it is even worse than that.

          black lives matter only counts just some black lives those that can be used as a political power.

          It irrelevant that on US most violence is blacks against blacks. That more blacks make more violence against whites. That recently in a week in Chicago 18 persons black were murdered a record.

          Nothing of this matters to black lives matter because in Marxist fashion they are just a tool to obtain power.

          • Marxist? That can’t be Karl Marx, the White supremacist who wrote in greatly disparaging terms about black Africans? It must be Groucho.

    • Shameful of the author of this post, now a Marxist, “useful idiot” or worse. Worse includes being the probability of being a Racist.

      • Post above was not to Levi but to the author Scott Allison, but i can extended to him if those “consequences” of political violence , arrasement, bullying are included.

        Orwell showed very much what you are like.
        Taking possession of language that no one else can use, using definitions that are constantly changing, kneeling and asking for repentance for a blasphemy.

        In Revolution it is forbidden to say No. You are the Robespierres now.
        There will be a time when you want to say no but you will not say it.

        Nice also to see the bullies out, i am sure most you have talked about against bullying. As i said you destroy language.

        • WTF are you bumping your gums about? You said destroy language, yep you certainly did that, as reading your post and trying to understand what you said is bloody tough!

    • Sounds like intimidation that. Keep you mouth shut or else, hey…. what kind of freedom of speech is that?

      Who’s going to provide the consequences, maybe your friends or perhaps others wearing black boots, brown shirts and carrying red and black banners?

      I could imagine the Gymnastic and Sports Division of the Workers’ Democratic Socialist Party saying exactly the same thing back in ’20s.

      This is how the mob works. This is how people are forced out of jobs for holding non-conformist views and eventually people start to squeeze minorities or… heretics. Businesses follow the crowd, MPs looking for popular support jump on board the bandwagon, social media restricts your voice and suddenly there are calls for criminalisation of such opinions. Children are forcible adopted by the state, parents are imprisoned and tyranny arises. This is happening now, across the globe, including Europe.

    • Sorry. I am working class. We don’t suffer from white guilt. The Black Lives Matter ‘movement’ had its origin in the United States of America where it should have stayed. Mr Trevor Phillips spells this out far better than I could.

  2. Oh please what does this have to do with defence. I thought this would be the last news site to jump on this band wagon.

      • If I was of the conspiratorial mindset , I might think that UKDJ were trying to flush out anyone committing thought-crime.

        • You know full well he means this site.

          I don’t see what the article has to do with UK defence either. But then again it is not my website.

          That you show such blatant and utter contempt for your readership, never mind posting this article, says an awful lot about you.

    • Exactly. Get woke go broke. I wonder if those who sport Black Lives Matter badges on TV realise that it’s a hard left Marxist group? You know the same ideology that has killed millions worldwide and was one of the reasons the UK was forced to maintain a nuclear deterrent even when the country was on its knees. And as for our role in slavery, I wonder if anyone who hates the UK has heard of the Blockade of Africa. So whilst we had participated in slavery (as most nations did and some still do) we also actively fought against it from 1807 on. And if historic slavery is a sin for which we must answer for now, then can we ask the former Viking nations, Ireland and much of the Arab world to take the knee for their participation in the slave (thrall) trade which ravaged much of Europe including Britain.

        • Hi HF.

          I believe BLM wish to “defund the police”
          I also believe they wish to remove Capitalism. What’s the alternative, Communism?!
          Courtesy of their website.

          • Defunding the police is not a Marxist policy. It is a way of taking apart an institution that seems to be unable to reform itself and replace it with a new one with the same aims but no historical baggage holding it back.

            Capitalism is a funny one. It is in itself a way for the rich to exploit the poor and make sure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. That said there is more than one alternative. We ourselves in the UK do not live in a purely capitalist society and in fact I am not sure there is one in existence although the US is the closest. The best alternative is to take good bits from different systems and integrate them into a better method. We do okay in the UK on this front to a degree. However it is still to tilted in favour of the super rich. No one can argue that there are good points from socialist policies. I mean you will not find many people that think the NHS needs to be fully privatised and replaced with private healthcare. Or that the army should be replaced by privately owned armies…

            I am not saying that there are not some dangerous elements taking control of the protests etc however don’t get caught in the Trump trap of thinking anything not radically capitalist is automatically radically communist…

          • “I am not saying that there are not some dangerous elements taking control of the protests etc ”

            Thank you!

            “don’t get caught in the Trump trap of thinking anything not radically capitalist is automatically radically communist…”

            I was going by their website. I’m not interested in that chump Trump!

          • Capitalism has nothing to do with the rich exploiting the poor, any more that the Communists parties of every socialist state building palaces for its leaders.

            Capitalism is ONLY the moving of money from lower profitable investments to more profitable investments. That’s it. By putting money in places that reap a greater harvest more people get fed.

            The problems you perceive come from the rich using their wealth as a means of power. ie. do this…or I move my capital elsewhere and you lose your job. That isn’t capitalism that’s just an abuse of power. But socialists have a long pedigree of doing exactly the same thing. Except their power is grounded in governmental structures not money.

            And please remember that socialism is intrinsically wrong, and as you said all societies are to some extent socialistic. i.e. they tax to pay for things you have no choice in. This is theft. I have NO right to the remuneration of your endeavours. I only share in those fruits if you permit it. Socialism by its nature takes by force what is yours and gives it to others who have no right to it. It claims a right but no right exists – socialistic policies must therefore be predicated on broad and common, democratic assent – otherwise its legalised theft couched in lofty terms and BS.

            As for the super rich, they pay for almost everything. Lose them and we lose the NHS. In 2012, the AVERAGE household received about 40GBP/yr from the state. https://fullfact.org/economy/are-half-british-households-burden-state/ This tells me that it is the upper quartiles who subsidise our quality of life. So considering they are taxed more and we depend on them, perhaps they “should” have more influence in society? I personally think our society is unsustainable and we should never be dependent on the benefaction of a minority.

        • BLM chairwoman was on tv openly stating the organisations aim is to get Donald Trump to resign…. that was their only agenda.

        • I provided one above. A video of the BLM’s founders claiming they are trained, Marxists activists. Check it out.

          • So, what exactly do these ‘trained’ Marxist activists do. Parade up down shopping centres wearing enormous false beards waving copies of the Communist Manifesto. The childish hysteria generated by this is laughable. To suppose that a handful of social malcontents is going to undermine the fabric of the nation is absurd. For God’s sake grow up!

          • You just can look at what the Author have done in this post.
            It is a taste of things to come.

            Right from the Marxist playbook.

            The author will taste it also, even if it will be just the mental contortionism that will be necessary to be with Revolution mores at any time.
            Because revolution of today is not of tomorrow.

            Right now you think you are safe from the Revolutionary mob. Or wants others to think that way.

          • Wolfy, citizen Smith, driving his Scorpion CVRT shouting power to the people! Alas he was funny, some of these clowns aren’t!

          • Did you understand any of that above? If you did, can you explain it to me. At my age I am conscious that my mental faculties might be on the decline! It appears to be a load of bollocks…is that the case?

    • A bit naughty to run a story like that on this site….given the views of some contributors!
      I saw the Farage interview on GMB where he repeatedly refused to answer Morgan’s question. He was asked whether he approved of the ban on statues of Hitler in Germany. All he would say was that he approved of democratic decisions….he did this twice. I’ll leave that one with you!

      • It was a loaded question. But if Farage had said – yes I agree that Hitler statues should be banned – then the follow up is “so you agree that some statues should be banned, why can’t the protestors want to ban Churchill” .

        Germany has made a democratic decision to ban Hitler Statues, rightly IMHO. Farage agrees with that and said so.

        Piers Morgan thinks he’s clever, but he’s a muppet.

      • Well, the RN’s had a reasonably good image for integration for years. I remember back as far as the seventies. One of the most popular matelots onboard (HMS Bristol) was a JJ Williams. Believe he was born UK but, either way, was Caribbean.

    • I think it is pertinent. Every bloody revolution that the British armed forces have had to defend against has started in a similar fashion. Napoleon’s Empire and his Edict of Fraternity were carried on the reign of terror. Lenin’s October 24th memo followed the Bolshevik uprising and the Tsar’s bloody oppression of demonstrators. Hitler’s Enabling Act that legalised his dictatorship followed the burning down of the Reichstag. All of these events followed on the coat tails of a revolutionary fervour that pitted different social groups against others and ultimately led to the deaths of millions.
      The BLM movement may not be the vehicle of that change but it could be in the vanguard of socio-political de-stabilisation that precedes it. With assistance from the likes of Antifa and other anarchist movements it wouldn’t require a lot to trigger a change in paradigm.
      More lock down, poor harvests, mass unemployment, hyperinflation and the bloody clampdown of protestors by a government (hence the baiting of Trump).

      • Trying to find historical parallels for the current situation is somewhat pointless. Yes, of course certain groups will exploit perceived weaknesses but they are very unlikely to gain popular consent. Jumbling together a group of GCE history reasons for the Nazi’s coming to power is not convincing and factually incorrect. Hyperinflation was not a factor (that was 1923) in the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor in January 1933. The Reichstag fire, that followed in February, was almost certainly started by the Nazis (it has Goering’s fingerprints all over it) in order to get Hindenburg to proclaim a national emergency. The Nazis were then able to round up political opponents and censor the press just ahead of the March elections. Democracy in Germany was in a very fragile state, that is not the case today in Britain or the USA.

  3. All lives matter ,when societies or the justice system starts breaking up the Human Race into segments then all of us suffer. BLM is a communist group, Antifa is a mix of anarchists and communists. Hypocrisy and racism disguised under the term of social justice is drawing us further apart not closer. Any group or individual who want’s another to bend the knee to others (SUBMISSION) is a racist. Moral cowardice is running rampage across the Western World as we destroy the lesson of our past (tearing down statues!!) whilst incidentally Russia and China are wetting themselves laughing at the own goal we are giving them. I refuse to be ashamed for being white. FFS i grew up in a single parent council house. Should have flown four planes, 1st Black lives matter, 2nd White Lives Matter, 3rd We Are All Human, 4th ALL LIVES MATTER.

    Ticked off rant over.

    • Well said Charles. And notwithstanding the fact that the above is only tenuosly linked to the UKDJ’s sphere of interest, I really appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with the good people of all opinions hereon.

  4. What we are witnessing in the world today is the biggest outbreak of mass insanity ever. There are no such homogenous groups as Black people or White People. Every individual is different.The insanity though exists in how some Black people have managed to create an enormous upheaval in the world based on the death of one (incidentally) not very nice Black man caused by one not very nice White man. Why thus in heavens name should it be seen as offensive, particularly a few days after the slaughter of three decent and incidentally white men by a nasty human being who was given asylum in the UK(!!!) to say politely that-yes, White Lives also Matter?? Does Seb H by implication believe that White Lives DONT matter but it is fine to say Black Lives do?? My belief is that colour should NEVER be used as a criterion to judge any event or human either in the positive or negative. So in summary Seb H above, I would say you are a sick moron for saying a banner that mourns the death of those good men from Reading is disgusting and that the people who organised it should be ashamed!?
    ps I am married to a woman who is half Jewish and half Irish Catholic. The lady who runs our businesses finances is a devout Muslim whom i would trust with my live and most of my top Managers are Black

    • Images matter more than words and facts.

      But i also make the accusation to the Media and their fake news.

      They turned a killing where there is no proof that was racially motivated, it appears more by cretinism and plain incompetence by the officer.

      It is even worse for the Media, if they have done same emphasis to white people killed by police in questionable situations : i just warn for the Tony Timbas killing, which is on video as just one example. There would be many more instances of police heavy handed situations completely unjustifiable that the media would have given an hot spot. Reform of police tactics might have occurred already.

      But showing that does not follow the narrative.

  5. Ps I am not on any social media so would appreciate if one of you would forward my views to this Sebh character

    • Having indulged my anger I agree with you Mike but this shite is just never ending and all pervasive. That we have to spend time and resources to defend the statue of Winston Churchill is intolerable

      • A year of discotent, some justified, others just boredom. The fact is articles like this, where there is no defence related issue at all, waters down this site’s reputation in professional circles.

        Leave the wider ‘news’ to those who revel in it.

    • I have to agree, some “Men fly a Cessna over a football ground, with vague banner” is a headline for the baying, screening mob of a gutter press, on line in print ( virtually all of them), not one for us…..

      There’s a sort of mass hysteria sweeping the world at the moment, can we please leave the madness outside.

      My only comment on this, let’s just reflect on were unchallenged mob rule, censorship and mass coercive control ended up 75 years ago ….

  6. While I agree that this isn’t defence news so probably left to other media, most of the comments sadden me. It is not “woke” or being a “snowflake” to realise that people of colour are still discriminated against, and yes far more so than white people.

    Have any of you been discriminated against just because your skin is a certain colour? That’s what this is all about, no one is saying that all lives do not matter or that there aren’t many other injustices that need to be resolved.

    Like it or not racism is alive and well in the UK, batting it all away as “woke” I’m afraid just highlights how far this country needs to grow.

    My best friend since school is black and I can tell you he suffered then with it and still gets it now. He is a teacher and much of it comes from the kids. Pretty appalling and shows how pervasive racism is.

    • Er, yes many have. Depending what country you are living/working in, I and a number of my colleagues have been on the receiving end of racist and offensive abuse. The trap of presumption, you have just walked into, is an easy one to fall into.

      • Read my post again. I didn’t say no white person is subject to racist abuse. I asked how many of the people commenting on here have been.

        I asked my friend what he thought of the “all lives matter” slogan. His response was that while it would seem decent, how it comes across to people of colour is “shut up and get back in your box”.

        There is lots of discrimination in the world, but this movement is specifically about how black people are treated, so why do people insist on downplaying it?

        • I dont need to read your post again as I have been reading for many years and that capability is actually second nature, cheers. You said “have any of you been discriminated against because of your skin colour”, and I answered in the positive. Questions?

          • “The trap of presumption, you have just walked into, is an easy one to fall into.”

            So what trap of presumption did I walk into?

            That’s what I was referring to when I asked you to read my post again. I have never presumed white people are not subject to racist abuse. I lived in the Middle East for 5 years, blimey that was an eye opener. Talk about being tolerated for money.

          • And you are presuming I am white! Damn, sometimes it’s far to easy! Seriously though Rob, with all due respect, see where I want there? Presumption, as we say, is the mother of all fuckups! Cheers stay safe.

    • I grew up in Rochdale which is and was a multicultural town. And there was racism which was appalling. However, I am not and was not brought up that way and not were the vast majority of people I knew. So I don’t get where the idea of collective guilt and blame comes from. That itself is the other side of the coin of racism. To judge all members of one group of people with a particular heritable characteristic because of the actions of others who happen to share that same characteristic is toxic. Does a child carry some kind of original sin by dint of it being born? Ridiculous. I find the vast majority of people of all creeds, colours and ethnicities are good and decent people who judge people fairly as individuals.

    • People aerent annoyed about highliting the issue of racism. Their angered by the way it’s done. By the aggressive nature of it, by the way no one is allowed to challenge it without being attacked, the way false information is being peddled unchallenged and how our culture is being attacked with seemingly no defence.

      • All fair enough. I certainly think that all types of intolerance should be openly questioned and talked about. It is true we as a society seem to be afraid to talk about huge issues like grooming gangs, which seem to be overwhelmingly made up of people from south east Asia and target vulnerable white girls. It does seem to be almost taboo to question why. My comments were not meant to downplay other issues.

    • I couldn’t disagree with you more. My wife is from a different ethnic minority and she says the UK is one of the best places to live. If you look at things from a prism of racism you will always see it. My take is that the UK (up until this BLM movement occured) was a model country for tolerance. This is just driving a wedge between people now. Making white people guilty for perceived injustices doesn’t make them injustices. I think personal responsibility is far more important which is why the Indian and East Asian communities are thriving in the UK. I would also say more black men and women are going to university and joining the middle classes whereas white working class boys are sinking fast. I feel more sympathy for working class white boys as they are really at a disadvantage in this country now. Removing the chip off the shoulder and working hard does wonders you know. I’m not going to make myself feel guilty for being born white. This also comes from someone that was brought up in a working class household with a single parent that worked his backside off and managed to succeed and elevate myself in my career as an engineer. Now please stop going on about pereceived injustices and tell your friends if they work hard they will succeed. That’s a more positive message than bringing down statues from 17th to the 19th century.

      • I’d like to move where you live Peter. I live in mid-Sussex and regularly come across racial bigotry in my working life in particular. There is definitely a thin veneer of tolerance.

        The UK might be a good place to live compared to many other places in the world – but it doesn’t mean there isn’t racism and that it shouldn’t be called out, whatever form it takes and against whichever ethnic group it is perpetrated against.

        For the record, I grew up in a pretty poor white working class background, worked hard and made something of myself. I made no comment on other injustices and certainly have no time for the Marxist underbelly of the BLM movement or any idiots who turn to violence, ruin statues, or think it is OK to huddle together in their thousands during a pandemic. I also intensely dislike the inability of white people to be able to talk about how intolerance is directed at them, but none of these things takes away from the issue of racism against black people, which is still a problem, even in the UK.

        • Can you provide direct evidence that racism is endemic in the UK? I really challenge people to do that. Statistics can be used in a multitude of different ways. The UK is very much one of the best people for ethnic minorities to live. I totally reject the assertion that racism is endemic. Look at Africa and the problems they have in inter-tribal warfare, the middle east where anyone not arab is treated as a third class citizen. Tell me which places are better than the UK? I would really love to know. My wife think it is an amazing place to live so I’m more inclined to believe her experience as a non-white person.

          • How on earth can I send you evidence of racism? I am just telling you my own experiences, which include 30+ years of being best friends with a black man in the UK. I am not going to repeat much of what has been said to him. I also never said other countries were better.

          • One man’s experience does not make a complete picture. Sad for that fellow but in this country he does have much better opportunities than in any other country. You can’t legislate love…and that is something the UK is trying to do. We can’t sacrifice freedom of speach because a few people feel they aren’t being treated fairly. I have very little truck with BLM as it is a largely Marxist organisation but every sympathy for the sentiment behind the movement. However, destroying statues and rubbing out history only gets people backs up and divides people.

          • If it was just his experience then yes, but blimey I come across some bigots, I guess its what I do for a living and the type of people I speak with as a result.

            I agree with everything else you say BTW, I just think racism is a little more pervasive in the UK than you do, that’s all.

            I guess my reaction to this is affected by some guilt about the times I have seen my friend suffer abuse, including times I looked the other way when I was much younger – to my great shame.

    • Why there are not in the “news” that whites suffer much more violence at hands of blacks in USA than vice versa? if you bring things only in racial terms then you have to bring the whole. It is not just picking and choosing.

      “Have any of you been discriminated against just because your skin is a certain colour?#

      Me, not sure. It could just have been because i wasn’t part of the group.
      People have been discriminated by their age, by their teeth – me, being introvert, because not being very well talking. Others have been because they wear glasses – in school, because they are aloof, other because they are ugly. No good at sports, no good at maths…
      There exist many discrimination. And some a justifiable and other are unjust. It is probable that a black person with social skills would have much more success than a social awkward white person today.

      I rate the biggest discrimination that exists is against older people. And also the biggest violence towards to.

  7. Ive said it before and i’ll say in again, this is Bored Britain ladies and gents. The sooner everyone goes back to work/uni/school the better!!

  8. The 2011 census found that 1.85 million of a total Black population of 1.9 million lived in England, with 1.09 million of those in London, where they made up 13.3 per cent of the population, compared to 3.5 per cent of England’s population and 3 per cent of the UK’s population.
    England: 1,846,614 (3.5%) (2011 census)
    Wales: 18,276 (0.6%) (2011 census)
    Scotland: 36,178 (0.7%) (2011 census)
    Northern Ireland: 3,616 (0.2%) (2011 census)

    3% of UK population is black.

    25-30% premier league footballers are black. Ergo white/non-black kids are under represented in elite professional football in the EPL.

    With Chris Houghton as a premier league manager – 5% of Premier league managers are back. Ergo black people are over represented in EPL management.

  9. By the way – this topic is really not what I want to see from UKDJ – I try to keep away from the nonsense MSM – please don’t ruin this site as well!

  10. This may well be a departure from defence, but I don’t remember anyone complaining about the NHS/Coronavirus diversions that George went down and I’m pretty sure that not all of them had defence content.
    I am trying to choose my words carefully, because it is a difficult subject, but I don’t think that it is unpatriotic to recognise that there is racism here in the UK and that it should be dealt with. If the person/group behind the sign wanted to make a counterpoint to BLM they could and should have gone with All Lives Matter. There are plenty of other ethnic communities in the UK who feel marginalised at times.
    We have a greater disparity between proportion of white and black prisoners here in the UK than in the US. It is commonly considered the case that the US has a race problem in their justice system, yet we don’t? Income disparity between black and white segments of the population is also wide, and that doesn’t ignore the fact that there are plenty of poor white people in the UK; the industrial heartlands are full of them- GenZ as they’ve been referred to below. The problem is that, even after education etc. is taken into account, UK-born black people earn on average 7% less than the average white British worker. That is a problem that should be seen and rectified rather than ignored.
    We shouldn’t have statues comemorating slavers in our cities in locations where the full story cannot be appreciated- museums are the right place for them. As far as Chruchill goes, his legendary and inspiring leadership during WWII does not excuse his actions in India and South Africa and Kenya. The argument that he was a product of his time does not hold weight when you look at the very real horror that his contemporaries felt for some of the things that took place. Should we therefore damn his memory? No, but we should be capable of having a more reasoned debate about it.
    I’m not a Marxist, I am proud to be British. But dismissing all of this protest as liberal snow flake hand-wringing and socialist/Marxist manipulation doesn’t do the UK any good in the long run.

    • Just as an extra, here is my source for income stuff, in case anyone bothered reading down that far:
      ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2018

    • 1st there is much racism in the UK but by in large it comes from individuals not government.
      2nd the issues supposibly faced by black people our those faced by the poor in society and is not a race related issue. Black people make up only 3% of the population but make a disproportionate amount of those in low income house holds. Hence their disportptunte representation
      And 3rd the majority of the British population our white British who many feel our having their culture torn away from them with no chance to defend it. Perhaps if the BLM movement and society in general was less aggressive in its actions the opposition wouldn’t be.

      • You are right, it is illegal for perople to be discriminated against according to their skin colour, they are protected by law- the government is not racist in that sense. But you didn’t answer why black people are dispoportionally incarcerated here, that would suggest that there is something to be addressed- or at least investigted.
        But your points 1 & 2 also tie together; why are they disproportionately represented in low income brackets? We’re talking UK-born black people here, not recent immigrants- they’ve been through the UK education system, their first language is English. Yet they are still disproportionately in low income brackets when other immigrant groups such as Chinese and Indians are above the average white British earner. That is also a concern, no?
        Ultimately, what most of the black people protesting have been asking for is an equal opportunity to succeed and thrive, and protection from prejudicial treatment from government bodies. Unfortunately, the government’s own investigations seem to be showing that is not the case and so it follows that there should be serious consideration of solutions. That, to me, is a very British value. Unless you have a different list, of course?

  11. Well you have to be careful. If you go after “white lives matter” in a way you would not go after a “black lives matter”, then you create a sense of injustice that can be a recruiting sergeant of the far right. Fair enough to say that banner did not help at the moment, but do not demonize it, or you give the far right an issue to rally around.

  12. My issue with this situation is not about racism which I abhor as I do any form of discrimination religion/class/schooling/gender etc, but the fact that I feel all forms of the media are constantly lecturing us. It is part of our national psyche that we don’t like being told what to do and what to think. It is not the message that irritates (how can it) but the way it is being delivered. Persuasion through informed argument is the way forward.

  13. When did flying an aircraft with a banner over a small time football ground become a defence issue?.
    Rampaging mobs rioting in London or the stabbing to death of 3 people in Reading does not warrant any discussion. I think you have jumped on the bandwagon and throwing petrol on an already incendiary issue shame on you.

  14. Seriously what does this have to do with defence matters. My only comment would be that curently according to DfE and ONS white working class boys are at the bottom of the pile academically. Why does that matter? It matters because all funding and effort is being devoted to minorities to equalise so-called inequalities but no one can actually point to hard evidence there is inequalities when did into the numbers. Funding and effort should be the same across the board regardless of ethnicity. We leave white working class boys at the bottom of the pile and we are storing up issues for the future. The most successful people in the UK are of Indian origin as well as East Asian. More black men and women are going to universitiers than ever before. We have equalities act in place which enforces standards on how we treat various ethnic groups. There is nothing inherently appalling about a banner that states something about lives mattering as all lives matter not just specific groups. We start the dangerous road of making some groups special then I really do think we could end destroying our democracy at the same time. I’m always deeply suspicious of middle class white people jumping on the band wagon of these types of movements. They largely do it to garner prestige in certain groups and not because they intrinisically believe it. One can’t help thinking the immortal Shakespearan phrase “The lady doth protest too much methinks”. Perhaps eventually Shakespeare will be the next “to fall” for the words he wrote which could be miscontrued as racist….Let’s hope the book burning doesn’t happen in my time as we saw enough of that in the 1930s. I have met enough so-called liberals to know that underneath the very thin vineer lies the beating heart of a true racist as well as Marxist. This comes from someone married to someone of a different ethnic origin than myself. Often those right of centre are colour blind but just want to see justice for all…i.e. the bad punished and those that work hard rewarded regardles of ethnic origin. As my mother always said be careful of those liberals as they aren’t as liberal as you think….the kangaroo court over this banner leads me to think they have more in common with some folk on the continent in the 1930s.

  15. I come to this site to read up and stay as current as I can on defence related issues and at most the politics related to defence related issues. I rarely comment but visit this site daily to read all that is newly reported. It’s one of my morning rituals, get up, coffee, check the news and then check here in. I enjoy the site. I don’t come here to read about yet another reason BLM and ANTIFA and the woke members of this terribly oppressive society that we live in are having a hissy fit. The people in the aircraft are as entitled to express their opinion as everybody else in this country. They’re also entitled to do it like this if they choose. No laws broken just the mental ability to cope of those playing the identity politics game on the left and the usual wealthy celebrities we’re all subjected to constantly on these issues these days. The pressure applied by many to somehow feel ashamed that we may have an alternative opinion to left wing (dare I say Marxist) tripe that’s constantly pushed by the media, the education system, the broadcasting company (we know who I mean don’t we) is frankly disgusting. I let myself imagine for a while there that this site was trying to stay above it all. Apparently I was wrong.

    • This idea that there is a left wing conspiracy in the media is incredible to those of us who see the ownership of the major part of the press by the super-rich who mainly live abroad. In the case of Murdoch has never been a citizen of this country. He’s become a plastic yank as he wouldn’t be allowed to own Fox etc in the USA as a foreigner. To someone left of centre like myself the BBC always runs scared of the government but are particularly craven when the tories are in power. The latest mainfestation of this conspiracy theory is now that the Met police are part of a left wing plot. Meanwhile we have the most right wing government – not to mention incompetent – in power for decades. They don’t seem very efficient at pushing their marxist tripe.

      • “To someone left of centre like myself the BBC always runs scared of the government but are particularly craven when the tories are in power.”

        “craven” BBC is and have been in last 30 years a eftist organization since i follow them from distance. From how they attack USA that is not like Europe – so much for being multicultural and respecting other people culture…, to how they defend China, to how they “care” about Palestinians only when Israel is in the picture and dump them when they are not, how they defend every Nationalist Party that is not European or American but only they go against.

        One of the best ways to know the Media is easy if you know how to read the media;

        Is Fidel Castro a Cuban “Leader” or a Cuban “Dictator”
        Is Pinochet a Chilean “Leader” or a Chilean “Dictator”

        Well the BBC calls one “leader” and the other a “dictator”. Guess who is the leader.

        Who the BBC calls “activists” and who they call “extremists”?

        When was the last time you saw someone in BBC say this expression: “Extreme Left”

  16. I am surprised that there have not been more accidents with Aircraft pulling big banners. One would think they would be particularly vulnerable in variable wind conditions and in the launching and ejection phases with the banners

      • He could have died i that flight. I don’t find it funny when another person almost dies. You have a very sick sense of humour.

          • I must admit, I must have a sick sense of humour. I support Farage, yet had no idea that the plane crash he was in involved a banner at the time. Very shoddy of me.

            I can see the irony of it!

          • Herodotus you are always offended. Personally I’m glad that DFID was closed down if only to offend you 🙂 My my day that one.

          • Now you are just being silly and spiteful. It doesn’t look good when you hold grievances over a difference of opinion. DFID is being merged with the FO….not abolished. I can see the logic behind the merger but hope that we maintain a suitable level of expenditure as X% of our GNP. Post Covid, I fear, this will amount to bugger-all!

          • Well at least we have found common ground on the DFID merger with the FO. We may disagree on exact percentages but common ground can always be found. In reality yes I can see some need for a bit of foreign aid just the precentages are the thing that concerns me but sensible debate can always look at that figure.

          • I agree with the merger, and I hope the aid budget remains. It should be more efficient, surely?

            If it was enshrined in law why would it change? I have not heard of any motions otherwise in the commons?

  17. Did the aircraft in question take off from HMS QE or PoW? No? Perhaps from a nearby RAF base. No? Did it cause some alarm bells to ring and QRF to scramble? No again?

    Then what is this rubbish doing on UKDJ?!

  18. If you put this on to provoke people into commenting, then those comments will be both sides of the coin!

    I think you should take this down or be prepared to keep all comments on racist or otherwise.

    I fear your finger may end up hovering over the delete button to much

    This has nothing to to with the DEFENCE of the United Kingdom

  19. Air Ads appear to be an abhorant company with no ethics and will accept work from any Right Winger with unwelcome grievances. During the height of the COVID lockdown in early April when only Very essential workers that the Government listed were allowed to leave home to work, they skirted the very edge of ‘essential worker rules’ and got their employees to a closed aerodrome to rig and fly an very right wing pro-brexit related banner which contained proganity.

    Thank you for highlighting their shameful practices.

    • What ?. Do you mean a private company continuing to work at a time of crisis (when most others had shut up shop indefinitely at tax payers expense) and actually having the temerity to advertise ‘right wing’ and ‘pro-brexit’ propaganda. How dare they. Shameful indeed. Going out of business definitely not punishment enough for them. Hanging offence almost.

        • Shoddy groups from some political direction always latch on to successful campaigns. It doesn’t define the campaign itself. Even if we choose to ignore the fact that BLM have unmistakable Marxist policy undertones themselves there’s no shortage of ANTIFA with hammer and sickle placards and Lenin faced and Che faced T-shirts on show wherever they turn up. Shoddy group latching on again. If this had been a private plane towing a sign saying ’bollocks to brexit’ or something equally anti brexit or perhaps a sign saying ‘up communism and death to capitalism’, or even a sign with ‘death to those supporting the white patriarchy’ or some such nonsense then those complaining wouldn’t have a problem. In fact I suspect they’d cheer them along. Either way though it is a private company expressing the view of those that have paid them. It may even be the views of the private company itself. That’s their right. All are entitled to express an opinion without fear of some sort of retribution from those that disagree.

  20. So, according to your quote, Burnley FC says ‘The club has a proud record of working with all genders, religions and faiths through its award-winning Community scheme, and stands against racism of any kind.‘ . So how on earth can they claim to be upset by the message ‘all lives matter’?
    BTW what has this article got to do with UK defence?

  21. I had to double take finding this on UKDJ??!! And that it is going to cause lots of rows.

    Love UKDJ and respect to George. But I disagree with this article.

    My take – Do White lived NOT MATTER then?

    Lets have a straight YES OR NO on that question please?

    Last time I looked this is a majority WHITE COUNTRY. That is not being racist, it is fact.

    We just had 3 white people stabbed to death in Reading, where are the riots and mass kneeling?

    I agree with HF that the statues nonsense is being orchestrated by the far left, not the majority who are demonstrating purely against racism, which is fine.

    ALL LIVES MATTER!!! A few years back the Poppy was banned from Premier League T Shirts as FIFA deemed it too political. Remembering the dead is too political? Remembering the dead some of whom helped defeat a Nazi enemy who, if they had, won, would have ensured that no BAME people exist in Europe anyway.

    Why can people not put history into context regarding statues?

    What was acceptable then is not now, but you cannot just erase history to sooth your “diverse credentials” The history still happened.

    Lewis Hamilton has been loudly calling for statues to be removed while in his tax haven. Rich then that he takes his wage from MERCEDES who had slaves ( Jews ) under the Nazis.

    VW car? RACIST! Burn it at once. Do they even know what VW stands for? Slaves. Jews. Mass murder.

    Are the Italians going to remove the antiquities throughout Rome?

    Trajan’s Column. Trajan was a paedophile ( as many Emperors were ) who indulged in small babies, and children while swimming. How can we have a statue to such monstrosity?!

    Hadrian was the same. Hadrian’s wall should be removed AT ONCE.

    The Pyramids? Built with Slave Labour? Yep, that’s them gone.

    BLM call for reparations on their website to Africa?
    Right, so when will Europe be presenting a bill to the Roman Empire? Or to the Scandinavia for the Viking pillaging?

    On Africa, any quick search reveals slavery now, ongoing. By black people selling their fellow blacks. And I believe Middle Eastern and Moorish Slave traders raided Europe and sold many whites into slavery too?

    This has all gone utterly mad and I am not in the least surprised that that banner was flown, as the silent majority who are not racist are fed up seeing their nation torn apart, their statues removed, and covid social distancing ignored by mass protests without a single say themselves.

    Because ANY opposing view is immediately screamed down from the rooftops.

    Such as this banner- which is stating an obvious truth that is actually mirrored on the back of PL shirts, yet Black is fine and White is not.

    • Never mind post of the week, that is post of the year Daniele!

      I was just warming up to vent, you have covered every base!

      Very well done indeed….

    • Excellent article, Daniele. Lewis does present a pretty balance article in the Sunday Times, mostly over his promotion of education as the real great leveller*. Due a knighthood, too.
      * though Ntokozo Qwabe may be the exception that proves the rule.
      Regards

  22. While this nonsense is ongoing, anyone remember the mural in Southampton University a few years ago some of the woke/PC/diversity ( delete as appropriate ) students wanted removed?

    The mural was from World War one, and depicted white soldiers who had fought and died who attended there.

    They wanted it whitewashed at it did not portray any Black soldiers in it.

    I don’t know how many Black soldiers were in the British Army in 1918? Does anyone?
    Different time, different history.

    Why? Why take it down?

    That example IS DEFENCE RELATED and shows that this MADNESS going on now has been here for a long time.

      • Silliness isn’t the prerogative of the left or students, and neither is ignorance for that matter. At least the students were showing that they cared about something other than what they look like or how many likes they got on their latest Facebook post. A social conscience, however mis-directed, is essential to becoming a responsible citizen. These young people will learn from their mistakes and, in the fullness of time, make suitable contributions to our society. When you are making a pudding, don’t over-egg it!

          • I would normally be found at a cricket match somewhere…alas! So, I expect it will be a few drinks in the garden…with one or two guests. I had thought about driving to the beach….just to test my eyes of course…however, I decided that it was irresponsible.

          • You should drive to the beach, just don’t get out of the car you’re in and join the thousands on the beach ignoring government requests not to.

    • Well many happy returns Herodotus. I may disagree with your politics Herodotus but many happy returns. Hope you get to spend that time with your family. All the best, Peter.

      • Many thanks Peter. Difficult times for all….I have been teaching part-time but have now decided to quit. As I teach young adults I have had to weigh up the risks…it simply isn’t worth it. Time to get my beach-casting gear out of the closet and get some serious R&R in.

        • Yes stay safe. This Covid-19 is pretty dangerous. My cousin works in a hospital and has seen countless patients die unfortunately. Get some R&D in and take things easy. All the best Peter.

    • Are you sure?
      Marxists are the reactionaries, they are Social Supremacists hence there are no limits of power in Marxism, there are no checks and balances. Everything and everyone can be disposed of.

      Modernity has been a travel towards the individual and limits of power to the group or groups that are rulling.
      Marxism was reaction to this, a return to absolutism even more totalitarian than Ancient Regime.

      • Don’t be silly Alex…..anyway after 20 years of teaching political ideologies to history students, I have now retired. No more half-arsed essays to mark or daft assertions to critique. I am sure that Marx is feeling suitably chastised and is busy rewriting the Communist Manifesto in light of your observations.

  23. You know, over the past few years there have appeared many heartening stories of efforts to aid all sections of apparently ‘left behind’ society improve their life prospects and thus self esteem. To my mind, one of the most positive areas with regard to this drive is the current emphasis on bona-fide apprenticeships, whether civilian or military based, that reach out to offer male, female, black, white (and any other sub divisions that come to mind) a rewarding route to both a personnally and nationally beneficial future, should they choose to folow it. That is one reality of life prospects in the UK i.e. open to all, and one that is quietly accepted by the vast majority of all our peoples.
    However, it seems that, as these tractions gain foothold, agenda-ridden groups broadly classified under extreme left or right set out to poke the remaining sores rather than let them heal. This can manifest either by overtly aggressive or, under a lesser extreme intellectually weak passive, action.
    Of course their are prejudices on numerous issues which we all hold, because we are all fallable HUMAN BEINGS – the whole lot of us. Ergo, it follows that this demonstrable ‘capability’, and thus equality, between the races means each has the same capacity for both hatred and compassion, taken across the spectrum of humanity.
    If people want to continue nurturing the good works that have occurred are still occurring within the baseline of society, then for fxxks sake set out to promote those aims for the present and future (our only concern), nothing else. Certainly don’t waste intellectual capacity on trying to punish the long since dead from a totally different era as some sort of symbol for you’re supposed, and certainly false, ‘enlightenment’.
    Yours.

    • As a history teacher (oh, I’m not anymore) I have always asked my students not to impose C21st moral values on historical figures. Their lives need to be seen in the context of the times that they live in. But, I can see that a statue to a slave trader (Colston) in a public place is inappropriate today. In the past I have argued that he should have been moved to the Empire and Commonwealth Museum at Temple Meads. Sadly, due to mismanagement, this venture went tits up some time back. Colston seen in the context of C18th slavery would make some sense.

      • Fair enough! Colston could have been moved by democratic process, due to he was a slave trader.
        I can see No Justification to the campaign to remove Cecil John Rhodes from Oxford. He brought industrialisation to Southern Africa.

  24. Well, indeed white lives do matter. All lives matter in fact. What we are really seeing is English Nationalism. And there is a discussion we need to have. Whereas the Scots have a positive pride in their sense of Scottish community and Leo Varadkar describes himself as an Irish boy with apologies to the RFU anyone waving the flag of St George is likely at best to be associated with drunken soccer fans or at worst with a fascist terrorist organisation.
    Something has gone skewiff in our history. A positive view of England identity and British citizenship ought not to be mutually exclusive. We need an English Parliament.

    • I agree….the flag does seem to have been hijacked by thugs. I find it odd that St Patrick’s day is celebrated with gusto in English towns but poor old St George pretty much gets ignored. Make St George’s day a national holiday!

      • George is patron Saint of half the countries in the world..Georgia, Ethiopia, Aragon …
        Personally I favour a change. St Alban would be a good choice.

  25. Simple enough. If the banner had said “black lives matter” not a word would have been said. It doesn’t so all hell has broken loose. We are living in a society full of double standards. Asian lives matter Black lives matter,White lives matter and while we’re at it Gay lives matter.
    I am not a racist. I have Asian and Black relations but this Black problems must overshadow everything else really annoys me and I’m sure it doesn’t help with large parts of the population.
    I live near Plymouth and race related incidents reported are almost non existent on a day to day basis but this last two or three weeks you would think we were all at each others throats. Is is absurd.
    LIVES MATTER.

  26. I agree with George for highlighting who flew the banner. BLM does not mean downplaying other groups or their issues but highlighting the disproportionate amount of discrimination faced by BAME people. There is no moral equivalence with WLM because white people are historically the dominant cultural group in the UK and elsewhere in the west and most of those in positions of power are from that ethnic group.

  27. The BBC with no irony displaying this banner on BBC News.

    “Burnley FC ashamed by banner over the Etihad Staduim”

    That would be the same Etihad Stadium that’s is named after Etihad – the airline of UAE that has a poor human rights record and openly tolerates modern day slavery.

      • Most likely He supports it!
        I think the issue of statue removal is even too important an decision for local politicians, and a referral to Department of Cultural or a ‘Statue Commission’ is a necessary solution.

          • A misguided obsession with removing statues of people whom helped to bring most of Africa out of the Stone Age!
            Would they prefer Southern Africa to remain in the Stone Age?

          • Sorry! The issue rises more questions again.
            There are parallels here with Stalin dragging the Soviet Union into the industrial age.
            Communists say that was a good thing, even the high price of deaths of millions of the people there??
            But Not a good thing to modernize Africa?

            Any leftist like to answer this as well?

          • I should add, White explorers and entrepreneurs whom with Colonial rule, dragged Africa out from the Hunter Gatherer age.
            This is the reality!

  28. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this, I don’t think it has any place in a Defence forum. It is not a political forum and this has nothing to do with defence. What was your intention UK Defence Journal?

  29. What’s shameful is the UK Defence Journal and defence enthusiasts are tracking down the company and encouraging a far-leftist rage mob to attack them.

    Doxxing and the defence of the realm are mutually exclusive.

    If you are not for defending the realm’s principles, then what are you defending?

    I think you’ll find that most of the defence servicemen and women will be disgusted by your actions and attitude to morals.

  30. While the purpose of the banner is a tad mystifying, if you find yourself getting offended by a truism it’s probably time to re-evaluate your outlook on life.

  31. Well was surprise to see this here on a military journal, then again maybe not seeing how most media are going down the outrage culture click me ideology. I for one will be seeing this as an vain attempt by Mr George Allison to generate traffic to his page. I am sad, disappoint to see this here, seeing as an ex-vet I like to keep up to date on military topics and till this time you have been very good at providing this information. Everyone deserves a second chance I will wait and see if you keep doing non-military topics or keep providing good information from this point on. That being said it seems it has work going by comments, congratulations Sir in doing what every online media has done.

  32. Pryamvada Gopal, a Cambridge lecturer. ” White lives don’t matter”
    Tweet from yesterday.

    I await the witch hunt on this one. Or maybe not! Given the double standards going on.

    Imagine if Farage had said it. Or D Cummings?

  33. I know I posted on here in support of the BLM movement – not the hard lefty ones or those who have turned to violence – but jeez I am not sure what grounds his employer has for sacking him. As for his girlfriend then getting the sack, blimey a lot of people could be in trouble if that is the bar. I’m sure many people have posted on social media about one thing or another that might upset someone.

    Also, whilst I agree his actions were ill advised I don’t think Burnley FC should have been quite so severe in their response. Nothing to do with us, we don’t endorse it, nor do we agree with it, would have been enough. Up to them I guess but the Police haven’t acted on it.

  34. Breaking News….Rebecca Long Bailey sacked over anti-Semitic views. The racism debate lumbers on….It’s not 1984 Daniele…it’s definitely 2020…bring it on I say!

    • Afternoon H. Yes, I just read. A positive thing for Labour I feel? She is tainted by anti-Semitism and her links to JC.

      • He is a smart cookie Kier…..give the opposition an arm-rap and a position to lose and then wait for the mistake. As a former DPP, I am quite sure that he knows who to target!

        • Yes, and a likely target himself given that as D of PP he presided over the mass silence while Muslim grooming gangs were busy all over the north and midlands….in the interests of racial relations of course! Oh dear.

          Like the banner says…White Lives Matter. Hmmm

          • I don’t think that is quite fair. It is up to the local police to make the case…and they didn’t. As dpp he can only pursue cases that have a reasonable chance of success. It’s up to local police forces to do their job. Protection of our children should come first….these bastards that commit these crimes, if they are settled immigrants, should be removed from the country.

          • “these bastards that commit these crimes, if they are settled immigrants, should be removed from the country.”

            I’d rather they were in jail that long that repatriating them would be a moot point.

          • That is fair comment H to be fair.

            Yes, they should.

            Not rails. The Track circuits in my area cannot cope with high temperatures. They show occupied when not, cause SPADS, SPARS, and Changes of Aspect. As a rail enthusiast I know you understand all that. Had 3 SPARS and at least a dozen examinations so far this shift.

            Late turns ( afternoons ) are the worst obviously. I always chuckle at the near 1 billion they spent at Waterloo yet the infrastructure out here “in the sticks” is 1980s and dated cabling.

            It’s quiet now!

  35. All lives matter, so I don’t disagree with the banner unless it’s an attempt to stoke racial divides or any sense of superiority.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here