The fatal attack on the people of Reading on 20 June 2020 has now been declared an act of terror. The three deceased and the other attack victims were targeted whilst enjoying social time with friends on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
The attack occurred in the Forbury Gardens, an assault on Reading's primary municipal gathering place: a place for both public repose and civil engagement. For while the killer attacked a group relaxing in the park, the space is also a focal point for public commemoration, protestation and celebration. It is a fulcrum for the wants and the needs of all the town's citizens as well as its many visitors. To yesterday's attack on the diversity of our town we must respond.
Our response must be to continue to ‘shout out’ for diversity. When the Labour MP, Jo Cox, was murdered in her constituency in 2016 by a white supremacist, Reading responded by holding a vigil in her honour. RDLP, the RTUC and RSC continue to promote Jo’s motto: “we are far more united and have far more in common than that which divides us”.
When Chick-Fil-A piloted a restaurant in Reading in 2019, we backed the LGBT+ community's opposition and declared that businesses with homophobic practices are not welcome in our town.
When George Floyd was murdered by the Minneapolis police only last month, we followed the lead of Reading’s black and minority groups and joined the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests.
And when the Reading International Brigades Memorial Committee remembers the town’s fighters against fascism every 1 May - those who supported democracy as soldiers, medics and administrators during the Spanish Civil War - we remember them too.
Cllr Sarah Hacker
Chair, reading & District Labour Party
Chris Reilly
President, Reading Trades Union Council
Kathy McCubbing
Founder, Reading Socialist Club
