The Government do not care about murdered soldiers, according to the Lee Rigby memorial campaign leader.
Lorna Taylor believes that Greenwich Council’s refusal to erect a memorial in the 25-year-old’s name is ‘despicable’.
Chiefs at the council have agreed to raise a plaque that will act as a tribute to all fallen servicemen and women rather than an individual memorial for the Middleton Fusilier, who was hacked to death by two Islamic extremists in Woolwich in May 2013.
The government have not questioned Greenwich Council’s decision, and Ms Taylor – a close friend of the Rigby family and mother of a soldier that served with Lee – revealed her anger.
“By not standing up for Lee Rigby, the government are saying that it is alright to kill our soldiers in our streets because they’ve done nothing about it,” said Ms Taylor.
“Lyn (Lee’s mother) cannot breathe. She is struggling and is re-living Lee’s murder every single day. To have a memorial for her son would give her some comfort.”
Ms Taylor added that there are hundreds of individual memorials around the country, naming singer Amy Winehouse and journalist Alan Henning as examples that suggest a class inequality.
“There are more than 400 memorials in Great Britain, all dedicated to different people – so why shouldn’t they vindicate a soldier who was murdered on the streets in public view?” she said.
“People are getting frustrated, because it is a rule for one person but not for another. It defies belief.”
The campaign leader also expressed her disappointment in the London Mayor, Boris Johnson, after he failed to take action despite publicly supporting the campaign that has received more than 3,000 online signatures.
“If you supported it then why have you not done anything about it Mr. Johnson?” added Ms Taylor.
“Why have you not stepped up and tried to overrule anything that the council have been saying?”
Greenwich and Woolwich MP Nick Raynsford previously claimed that bearing Lee’s name wouldn’t be ‘helpful’ because it may run the risk of attracting ‘undesirable interest from extremists.’
The assailants, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, told passers-by that Rigby’s murder was to avenge the killing of Muslims by British armed forces.
Ms Taylor however, reveals that the memorial would not attract unwanted interest because this, unlike Stephen Lawrence’s plaque, was not a race issue.
She said: “Woolwich is a multicultural place. Everyone from all nationalities came out and supported Lee when he was murdered. It’s not racial – everyone in the community wants this.
“The whole country, even the world were torn apart by what they saw on their televisions that day.
“This is never going away. For Lee’s family to move on, they need a memorial.”
Image courtesy of Facebook, with thanks.
