KIM MCGUINNESS: I won’t accept violence on our streets as the price of freedom of speech

Our streets though have also been taken to lately by well-intentioned protest groups, particularly those fighting for equality. Now, I firmly believe that Black Lives Matters, and that racism is vile. But I also believe that to gather in large numbers where social distancing is impossible is the wrong decision.

That’s why I joined with others to urge those campaigning for change to save their street protests until safer days and keep active online for now. There is a deadly pandemic underway, and those gathering in large numbers risk spreading this virus on buses, in supermarkets and when they get home to their relatives. That’s a warning I really want our young people to hear.

You’re right to be angry about racism, and you probably think the Coronavirus is less of a risk to you, but you can still spread it to the elderly and the vulnerable.

In Sunderland, those BLM protests have seen a bigger police presence after thugs hijacked a counter-protest designed to protect statues in Newcastle, and police officers were caught in the middle.

In Sunderland also we’ve seen statues vandalised as people hit out at historical figures, and a growing risk of yet more violent confrontation.

That’s why officers last month issued a Section 14 order in Sunderland which meant the two sides could no longer protest next to each other. BLM had their protest and a smaller counter-protest had its say elsewhere that same day.

It wasn’t, as some claimed, a ban on one side gathering outside. It simply meant the two sides had to go to separate locations and avoid each other. That seems sensible to me. It means people wanting to go out in Sunderland didn’t need to get caught in between the sort of scenes we witnessed in Newcastle and it means police officers and service animals weren’t targeted when things get out of hand.

I won’t accept violence on our streets as the price of freedom of speech, and I don’t think families across our region will either, and I’m glad arrests have been made following the protest where violence occurred.

But equally, we need to look at ways of coming together as a region and sharing our views without these confrontations, and that’s something I look forward to working on in the months and years ahead.

For now though, let’s take care of each other and do our best to avoid spreading this deadly virus.