This is Bozza in 2006. You will note that he’s at a demonstration with Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, supporting the demo against hospital closures.
Clearly, Boris believed that attending a demo to support a cause he believed in was the right thing to do, and is, as we know, part of what makes Britain’s democracy one of the best in the world.
So, comments this week regarding the student demonstrations in London – according to The Sun, the Mayor “attacked parents who egg on their children to demonstrate'” – look to be somewhat at odds with the Mayor’s own past behaviour.
Clearly, the student protests got out of hand (for reasons that, depending on who you listen to, involve ‘students being idiots’ or ‘the police being idiots’) and there were unpleasant and unpalatable aspects to the day’s events. However, whilst Bozza may have been right that it was ‘an insult to democracy’ that the mob targeted statues of ‘the greatest protectors of freedom’, it surely can’t be right to criticise people for encouraging others to demonstrate democratically in a cause they believe strongly in?
Or, perhaps, Stanley Johnson should be chastised for encouraging his son to protest….?