US president suggests gun control to blame for London knife deaths

Protest against Trump and May on 13 July

Protesting against Trump, photo Paul Mattsson, photo Paul Mattsson

Protesting against Trump, photo Paul Mattsson, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Beth Webster, Cardiff West Socialist Party

We need to organise against reactionary US president Donald Trump when he comes to Britain on 13 July.

In one speech to the National Rifle Association (NRA), Trump not only showed contempt for the hundreds of thousands demanding gun controls in America; he also used an unprecedented increase in fatal stabbings in London to justify it.

In a speech at an NRA conference on 4 May, he likened a London hospital to a war zone following a spate of stabbings, ludicrously implying that the cause was strict gun controls. At least 36 people have been fatally stabbed in London already this year.

Since 2010, the Tory government and Labour councils have slashed funding for youth services by over £750 million. There are at least 20,000 fewer police officers on the streets. Getting rid of the Tories and properly funding public services would be a first step to reducing violence.

Trump’s latest comment comes after mass mobilisation of young people and workers following the Parkland school shooting in February. Yet NRA funding is more important to Trump than school children’s lives. By inviting him here in July, May is endorsing his disgraceful and callous behaviour. That’s no surprise – she’s cut from virtually the same cloth!

In answer to his visit, on 13 July Socialist Students is calling a student strike. And workers should join students in mass protests against Trump’s racism and sexism, his prioritising of profit over lives, and the entire capitalist system he and May represent.

We need to show solidarity to those in America fighting for gun controls and women’s and workers’ rights. We need to show May what we think of her appeasement. The mere threat of mass protest saw Trump off in February – it can do so again. And this time, May with him.