Meet Mr. Gander.
A protester who used a hammer to attack a statue by known paedophile Eric Gill on the outside of the BBC‘s Broadcasting House is a notorious Fathers 4 Justice campaigner.
Well, we never saw that one coming, did we? Of course the Bristol verdict was going to set a precedent. It’s okay to damage property as long as you have a political motive.
The BBC has refused to tear down the Eric Gill statue adorning its headquarters after it was vandalised by a hammer-wielding protester.
The corporation said that the Broadcasting House sculpture of Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest could promote discussion about whether works of art can be divorced from their creators.
It would seem that it only applies if you have the right political motives…
Campaigners have called for the statue to be removed after extracts from Gill’s private diaries, published nearly half a century after his death in 1940, revealed that he sexually abused his daughters.
To be fair, here, there was a time when I wold have agreed with the BBC, but not now. Now, they can suck it up. If tearing down Edward Colston was okay, so is taking a club hammer to Gill’s work. Goose and gander.
The jury verdict in the Colston statue case did not a precedent, and I think you know that.
Yes it has. Just because it’s not a legal one, it does not mean that a precedent hasn’t been set. Precedents don’t have to be legal ones to exist.
“revealed that he sexually abused his daughters”
Don’t forget the dog.
Indeed.
Ok so Eric Gill abused his daughters, wrong obviously. But he was a renowned artist. We mustn’t let these morons trash our history.
This is a line I’ve maintained up until now. However, the Colston verdict has created a ripple. A week later, we get someone feeling empowered to attack a statue because of the history of the artist. Don’t be too surprised if the jury acquits. Partly because of the Colston verdict, but also the BBC’s declining popularity and Gill’s sordid past. This one will keep running. My sympathy for my original position has largely evaporated. We live in a society that doesn’t care about such things. As I said, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.
Are we allowed to take a sledge hammer to that bust of Marx now then?
Exactly. And don’t be too surprised if it happens. Someone has already sprayed graffiti over it, so smashing it up is the obvious next step.
Can we tear down the statue of Mandela as well?
Why not? It’s open season.
As mentioned elsewhere, it’s just a shame that no one removed the ladder while that cretin was damaging the statue.
Gill designed war memorials too. Do we want to see those defaced?
We’ve already seen that happening during the Burn Loot and Murder riots.