Episode 12: Statue Wars, the police and Black Lives Matter protests

How did we go from lockdown to breakdown?The appalling death of George Floyd in police custody triggered outrage in America; outrage that travelled over 4,000 miles from Minnesota to the streets of London.At first, there was confusion about how to address the situation here in the UK.  The suddenness with which anger had travelled across the pond, combined with the sensitivities around issues dealing with racism, meant things got quickly out of control.When the peaceful protests turned to rioting, police seemed to be caught off-guard.  And this happened during the COVID-19 lockdown - a lockdown, up until that moment, the public had largely abided by.So what happened? Were the police unprepared for riots on the back of lockdown? Should permission for the protests been refused from the outset?  Were the protests distorted by media coverage?  How should the police have handled things?To help us tackle these questions and more, we speak to:1) Graham Wettone, retired police officer and author of 'How to be a Police Officer' (01:47 - 14:52)2) Maurisa Coleman, Ambassador for Notting Hill Carnival and political assistant (15:08 - 24:30)3) Kash Singh, former Police Inspector and now CEO of One Britain One Nation (24:45 - 29:52)4) John Apter, National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (30:24 - 37:20)

Om Podcasten

Welcome to Blue Collar Conversations! We’ve moved from the pub to the podcast. And like our country wide pub events, these podcasts act as a space to discuss ideas that champion working people. In our podcast series, we will talk to staff and business owners, bringing their voice to the fore, discussing their concerns, aligning the needs of staff to the vision of the business owner, asking: will we recover from this pandemic and what will the recovery look likeWhat will be the impact on staff and workers and what does the future world of work look like? Get involved: contact@bluecollarconservatism.co.uk