Do you not think this is popping just over the line into propaganda? ”Turned the seat of democracy into a battlefield”. I haven’t been on a battlefield but what was the death toll? 4 on one side (3 of whom died from overexerting themselves or tazer misfires?) and was it two on the other? Doesnt really sound like any battlefield I’ve heard about.
Whatever is going to happen in America in the next few days, weeks and months is not going to be helped if the media do not dial back their rhetoric.
Indeed. While it was without doubt a frightening experience for those politicians caught up in it, one cannot help but compare and contrast with the reaction of Tory politicians after the Brighton Bombing. Lord Tebbit, for example, when receiving treatment for his injuries was asked by the doctor if he was allergic to anything.
"Bombs", Tebbit replied.
Thatcher was unharmed but was well aware exactly how close a call it had been; the bathroom in her suit had been destroyed by the bomb while she was in the living room. Five other people were not so lucky, including Sir Anthony Berry, MP, the Deputy Chief Whip.
Thatcher gave an impromptu press conference at 0400, after leaving the police station where she had been taken following the bombing. She refused to cancel the conference and it continued on schedule that morning. Mark & Spencer opened early so that those attending the conference could purchase replacement clothes for those destroyed in the attack. Thatcher's speech included this statement,
"That is the scale of the outrage in which we have all shared, and the fact that we are all gathered here now - shocked but composed and determined - is a sign not only that the attack has failed, but that all such attempts to destroy democracy will fail".