Black MP Dawn Butler forced to close office because of racist violence
Dawn Butler: here’s an MP who actually cares about her constituents’ lives, suffering appalling treatment – and a lack of overt support from her party’s leadership.
Labour’s Dawn Butler has been forced to close her constituency office due to a torrent of racist abuse and vandalism that escalated after she voiced her support for Black Lives Matter.
It seems bricks have been hurled through the windows of the office on High Road, Willesden, and staff have been attacked inside. She said the continual security risk, alongside spiralling rent costs, forced her to close the office.
But she assured residents that her constituency work is continuing as normal.
Quoted in the Evening Standard, she said:
“I continue to receive on an almost daily basis threats of violence and death threats.
My staff have been attacked in the office, verbally assaulted coming and going from work, bricks have been thrown through the windows and the frontage has been smashed.
I have had to work extensively with police and security staff to simply try and create a safe working environment for my employees. Many of these incidents were not made public in order to not encourage copycat attacks.
The Standard reported that Ms Butler had reported a torrent of racist abuse to police after she spoke in support of Black Lives Matter:
One email reportedly sent to her said “There will come a time when you can’t breath[e], and we will all be happy,” while another allegedly said: “Come the revolution you will be one of the first.”
Supporters of Ms Butler were quick to offer their support.
Her party leader was less keen. Keir Starmer had to be prompted before he would say anything:
https://twitter.com/TheMendozaWoman/status/1281227648316977159
He still waited nearly 24 hours after the closure became public knowledge before he voiced his own lukewarm support. And he’s been called out on it:
https://twitter.com/TheMendozaWoman/status/1281308405874020352
Racists will see Starmer’s reluctance as tacit support for their attacks – and who can say they’re mistaken in that?
The new New Labour leader has shown a spectacular failure to understand the issue of racism, both within his party and in the UK as a whole.
Or perhaps he really is a racist himself.
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Starmer’s fault. He’s used a dog whistle to all racists with his comments on BLM. Every one of his actions since becoming leader just screams inherent racial bias. Interesting that when Angela Eagle claimed her office was targeted it was all over the news, yet the MSM seems quiet here.