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Protesters in front of London Parliament: The anti-Brexit carnival

2019-09-04T21:22:24.680Z


An actress in a suffragette outfit, a painter, a family man in robocop costume: They are united in their aversion to Boris Johnson and Brexit. Impressions from Westminster.



Robocop stands in front of the Palace of Westminster in central London. He wears a metallic shimmering body suit, on his head a covered with aluminum foil helmet. "Somewhere here a crime is happening," says the sign in his hands. Robocop says: #StopTheCoup.

It's late Tuesday afternoon, in Parliament opposition and Tory rebels are wrestling with Boris Johnson for Brexit - a fight that will cost the British prime minister that day his majority.

Even out on the street his opponents are in the majority. Although a few Brexiteers have mixed with the demonstrators on Abingdon Street. But dominated by the European blue Remainer, interspersed with many splashes of color: Some particularly dedicated Brexit opponents have imagined disguised, it is a small anti-Brexit carnival. Each of the costumes contains a message to those in power in the parliament room.

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Brexit opponents: outraged and costumed

"Robocop has three principles," says Charlie Rome, who is in the outfit. "First, serve the general public. Second, protect the innocent. Third, maintain the right." The 35-year-old Greenwich family man finds that Prime Minister Johnson disregards all these principles: he has lied to the public about the likely consequences of leaving the EU that Brexit will hit the weakest in society the hardest. And Cabinet member Michael Gove recently questioned whether the government would respect a bill that would rule out a Brexit without a withdrawal agreement if Parliament passed one. "We have a government that thinks it's above the law."

Rome is worried about the division of society. "I was terribly disappointed after the referendum, but I was content with a Norway model, but today? The Scandinavian country is not an EU member but participates in the single market. "We are all becoming more extremist," says Rome, "me too."

This idea also bothers Kate Willoughby. The actress stands a few steps further on the steps of the stature of King George V., in the background the Westminister Abbey. Willoughby wears a floor-length skirt, and under the jacket a blouse with an old-fashioned high collar. She came as a suffragette, as in the early twentieth century the early feminists called themselves, who took to the streets for their democratic rights.

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Reuters

"The story I tell is about universal suffrage - it connects people," says Willoughby. The deeply divided nation needs positive narratives that all Britons could identify with. "Such stories can bring us together again." And for one more reason, her costume as a women's rights activist fits in with the occasion: "The government will take our votes when it closes the parliament."

The following day, Wednesday, demonstrators gathered in front of the Parliament building again. They wave EU flags, shouting "Stop the coup!" Through the crowd, an elderly gentleman in a colorful clown costume, a Boris Johnson mask wraps around his face.

Another man with a gray mustache carries an oil painting in front of him. He painted it himself last night, the paint is still wet. It shows a bleak scene, the bow of a sinking ship sticking out of the storm-swept sea, then the Union Jack and the word "Brexit". In the center of the picture, a drowning Boris Johnson cranes his chin out of the water. "He literally drinks off," says Kaya Mar, the painter.

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The 63-year-old speaks English with a Latin American accent, calls as a nationality with a fine smile "second-hand British". "I'm not good with words, I express myself with my pictures." He already painted 115 of them. Johnson is a charlatan who is only concerned. "He wants to become a little dictator, a British trump, but thank goodness, Britain is not America." As the Premier lost Tuesday's vote in the lower house, something has changed: "The people are the relief written in the face."

Sarah Jane Checkland would agree. The art historian from London has been campaigning against Brexit since the 2016 referendum. Out of frustration at the result, she kicked her sofa so hard that she broke her toe. Her resentment against the prime minister is correspondingly deep, as evidenced by her souvenir.

Checkland is carrying a rubber doll that she has outfitted as Boris Johnson, including blonde fuzzy wig. On his chest is "Stop screwing our country", where the translation "Stop kidding our land" does not reflect all the nuances. Johnson is irresponsible, says Checkland. It's a shame. Now that new elections are in the room, he'll promise everyone back the blue of the sky to get what he wants.

From the point of view of the anti-Brexit carnivalists, there is no reason to let go for the time being. Many of them come together in parliament during the sessions, some even daily.

On Wednesday in front of the entrance to the House of Commons, for example, a man in a dark suit lounging around, a top hat on his head, his features hanging down in mock boredom. Not to be misjudged: Jacob Rees-Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons, provoked the country with its provocative relaxation in the House of Commons the night before. His doppelganger is - the Robocop from the previous day. Charlie Rome likes to wear his costumes appropriately for the occasion.

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2019-09-04

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