A swastika spray painted on a sign informing the public that car park is closed near the beach at the Briar Dene car park in Whitley Bay, Northumberland
SWASTIKAS were spray-painted on signs urging people to stay at home and protect the NHS during the coronavirus lockdown, it emerged today.
Northumbria Police said it was “horrified” to find that a number of closed car-park signs along the coast between Seaton Sluice and Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, were attacked overnight by vandals.
At least five locations over two miles were attacked, including a sign saying: “Stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives.”
Council teams were sent out to erase the graffiti.
Stand Up to Racism’s Weyman Bennett said: “It’s a disgrace that nazis and fascists on the far-right are attacking people at the same time as the Covid-19 crisis and while the NHS is fighting to defend people.
“We know that they have no respect for life because the history of the holocaust tells us this.
“Far-right groups across Europe are attempting to organise during the lockdown and this is part of it.
“It’s important that we celebrate our multicultural workforce and stop those from seeking to divide it.”
This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
