Let the Notting Hill Carnival die!

I remember the first time I went to London, around 1978, I stayed in the Notting Hill area. Even then it was noticeably diverse compared to anywhere else I had been at that time but it was still fun.

Which brings me to the topic of the Notting Hill Carnival.

This is an annual Caribbean Carnival event that has taken place in London since 1966 on the streets of the Notting Hill area of Kensington, over the August Bank Holiday weekend. It may have started with good intentions but over the decades it has become one big crime-fest.

Here are a few comments from the Metropolitan Police on the ‘Car-ni-val”

“Utter lawlessness... We are practically powerless to police this event… It’s a war zone we are sent into year after year”

“Punched, kicked, hit with objects including bottles. Spat at and sexually assaulted.”

“It is a dangerous environment with no concern for officer safety.”

“As an ethnic minority, I often feel anxious about policing carnival.”

“I would rather crawl naked through broken glass.”

“I dread this event every year, it gets more violent each time. How many more officers have to get injured or innocent members of the public killed before anything is done?”

You get the picture. People get murdered, stabbed, raped and have their property stolen at this event.

Now some good news.

The future of the Notting Hill Carnival could be in doubt without "urgent funding" from the government, its organisers said in a letter leaked to the BBC. Carnival chair Ian Comfort has written to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to request the funding, which he said was "essential to safeguarding the future and public safety of this iconic event". It follows a review of the festival, which attracts about two million people over the August Bank Holiday weekend, which identified "critical public safety concerns" that needed additional funding to address, the letter said.

No, it doesn't need any more tax-payer funding. It should be declared unsafe and banned. The Police don’t like it, I suspect some outside the “Caribbean” community also have problems with what goes on and if it was to wither and die that would be good thing.

Deeper questions need to be asked about why it is that such a “Carnival” is accompanied by such lawlessness?

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