Bristol YFJ:
“We’re not lazy – we’re fighting back”
Outraged by news of the book Britannia Unchained, which brands working class people as lazy, activists from Bristol Youth Fight for Jobs picketed the surgery of Chris Skidmore, Tory MP for Kingswood and one of the right-wing authors of the book.
However, as we approached the office there was a ‘closed due to unforeseen circumstances’ sign on the door – Skidmore had done a runner! Maybe he did not have the confidence to back up his disgraceful book and would rather shut his surgery, causing inconvenience to his constituents, than debate with protesters.
Despite Skidmore going into hiding, with the help of a hooter we kicked off the protest. Chants of ‘the rich, the rich, we’ve got to get rid of the rich’ and ‘Tories out’ could be heard as activists gave interviews to BBC Radio Bristol and distributed leaflets to the public. After about an hour, we marched on the shopping area, backed by shouts of support and tooting of horns.