The Greens have given a key post in their new ruling cabinet in the London borough of Lambeth to a man who has justified violence, condemned Remembrance services as “insidious” and demanded a move away from “kinder, gentler politics” to putting “heads on sticks.”
Chessum is one of those people who make journalists’ lives worth living, with a long record of wild statements
Not content with having two of their candidates arrested for stirring up racial hatred (they remain under investigation), Lambeth Greens, who have just taken power in the South London borough, can also bring you Councillor Michael Chessum, cabinet member for the “economy, cost of living and empowered communities.”
Chessum is one of those people who make journalists’ lives worth living, with a long record of wild statements dating back to his days as a leader of the student protests which saw rioting in central London, the statue of Winston Churchill defaced, government buildings attacked and demonstrators surrounding and smashing the window of a car carrying the then Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall.
“I don’t think I’m going to wade in and condemn violence from protesters,” he told the BBC afterwards in 2010. “They’re doing it because the normal processes of democratic accountability are failing them…The vandalism that we’re seeing from the government outweighs ten times the vandalism that we see on famous public buildings, on statues.”
