Three children dead in a senseless attack, buildings aflame, and police hospitalised. What on Earth is the link?
Those involved in protests would have you believe it’s about ‘fighting back’ against Islam and/or immigration, pointing to the deaths of the children in Southport. In correspondence when I have highlighted that the suspect was a British-born non-Muslim, I was told they didn’t care it’s still about immigration. Given the facts, I can only conclude they mean his skin colour. Despite this, we’re told it’s not about racism.
No one wants to be called a Nazi, particularly those who share their views, it’s bad PR. Unfortunately for Nazis, if someone walks like a duck and talks like a duck, they’re probably a duck. Our greatest generation witnessed Nazis set their communities ablaze in the Blitz and lost blood on the battlefields of Europe to bring an end to that vile doctrine, their descendants now repay their sacrifice by vandalising their own communities and expressing the beliefs they set out to destroy.
Precisely because we put an end to Nazism, we have a society which defends people’s rights to believe whatever they want and to express those beliefs publicly, even Nazis. What no one has the right to do is put people in fear of their lives, damage property, and commit bloody mayhem. That’s why laws exist around how protests are undertaken and where necessary the police not only have the power but the duty to use force proportionally to restore order.
Nazi-by-Nazi, those who have wrought chaos are being identified and prosecuted to the maximum extent of the law. Cameras and social media are too prevalent for even those who believe themselves anonymous to go unfound. Justice will be done, however long it takes.
Yet, this comes at the cost of time and energy better used to prevent tragedies like Southport. We need to get knives off our streets, increase police numbers, and work proactively to prevent future stabbings, that should have been the debate we were having. Instead, the voice of grieving parents is reduced to three words: “stop the violence.”