Dandyman
In London village.
Nine arrested as nationalist group storms London
British-Americans issue stark warning to government
by Tyrone Cowley
Nine were arrested as an estimated 4,000 demonstrators marched through central London today in support of 1776 UK, a group campaigning for the rights of British-Americans born in the UK. 1776 UK takes its name from the year of the US's Declaration of Independence. Its policies include UK membership of the United States, easier access to firearms, and wider seats on British trains.
Police say the march began calmly, but isolated pockets of rioting erupted late in the afternoon as some protesters ransacked a fish and chip shop and stormed a traditional gentleman's tailors. The nine arrests were for criminal damage. One police officer was admitted to hospital with chip fat burns. Police soon brought the situation under control and the march ended peaceably with a mass rendition of The Star Spangled Banner outside a branch of McDonalds in London's West End.
The group, which claims 20 million members in the UK, organised the march to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of 1776 UK's founder Nat Washington. Washington died in November 2001 aged 30 after four months on "gluttony strike". Previously called Matthew Barker, Washington famously changed his "colonial name" by deed poll in 2000 and advocated others to do the same.
One demonstrator justified the rioting thus: "It's a question of freedom. Growing up in Edmonton, North London, I always knew that I was an American living under European control. After researching my roots by watching hours of movies and sit-coms and flicking through gun magazines, I came to understand how England, Scotland and Wales are three American States under the jackboot of European tyranny. We may have won the War of Independence, but many British-Americans still have to live in lands occupied by an bowler-hatted imperialist English elite. With no senator or congressman to stand our corner, direct action is the only hope."
A spokesman for 1776 UK denied that the group encourages violence. "Violence isn't the American Way, and rioting is not part of our plan. We sympathise with our Irish brothers but we don't back terrorism. Whether President Dubya finally comes to our aid or not, we will end this European state-monarchist-complex conspiracy with economic pressure. Our 20 million members will continue to back our "Buy USA" policy. We hope to influence every arena of UK life, from media, to business, to family life, and sometime later in this century British-Americans will win their freedom and these lands will rejoin the United States forever."
Tony Blair, commenting on the march, urged patience. "My government understands the feelings of British-Americans," he said this evening, "but we ask them to have faith and be patient. I remind them of our continued adherence to American foreign policy and our support for unfettered capitalism. Our pilot project in London has so far failed to create a truly American-style Mayor, but it is our hope that this can be rectified in the near future and similar initiatives can then be instigated nationwide."
British-Americans issue stark warning to government
by Tyrone Cowley
Nine were arrested as an estimated 4,000 demonstrators marched through central London today in support of 1776 UK, a group campaigning for the rights of British-Americans born in the UK. 1776 UK takes its name from the year of the US's Declaration of Independence. Its policies include UK membership of the United States, easier access to firearms, and wider seats on British trains.
Police say the march began calmly, but isolated pockets of rioting erupted late in the afternoon as some protesters ransacked a fish and chip shop and stormed a traditional gentleman's tailors. The nine arrests were for criminal damage. One police officer was admitted to hospital with chip fat burns. Police soon brought the situation under control and the march ended peaceably with a mass rendition of The Star Spangled Banner outside a branch of McDonalds in London's West End.
The group, which claims 20 million members in the UK, organised the march to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of 1776 UK's founder Nat Washington. Washington died in November 2001 aged 30 after four months on "gluttony strike". Previously called Matthew Barker, Washington famously changed his "colonial name" by deed poll in 2000 and advocated others to do the same.
One demonstrator justified the rioting thus: "It's a question of freedom. Growing up in Edmonton, North London, I always knew that I was an American living under European control. After researching my roots by watching hours of movies and sit-coms and flicking through gun magazines, I came to understand how England, Scotland and Wales are three American States under the jackboot of European tyranny. We may have won the War of Independence, but many British-Americans still have to live in lands occupied by an bowler-hatted imperialist English elite. With no senator or congressman to stand our corner, direct action is the only hope."
A spokesman for 1776 UK denied that the group encourages violence. "Violence isn't the American Way, and rioting is not part of our plan. We sympathise with our Irish brothers but we don't back terrorism. Whether President Dubya finally comes to our aid or not, we will end this European state-monarchist-complex conspiracy with economic pressure. Our 20 million members will continue to back our "Buy USA" policy. We hope to influence every arena of UK life, from media, to business, to family life, and sometime later in this century British-Americans will win their freedom and these lands will rejoin the United States forever."
Tony Blair, commenting on the march, urged patience. "My government understands the feelings of British-Americans," he said this evening, "but we ask them to have faith and be patient. I remind them of our continued adherence to American foreign policy and our support for unfettered capitalism. Our pilot project in London has so far failed to create a truly American-style Mayor, but it is our hope that this can be rectified in the near future and similar initiatives can then be instigated nationwide."
