Clean up the MoD graffiti!

00:00 05:48

Mary Wakefield has narrated this article for you to listen to.

When I first saw the Ministry of Defence building splattered in blood-red paint, I assumed that it had only just happened. There were no police or protestors about but the damage was so extensive and so shocking, I felt sure it was recent. No decent government would put up with that for long. I was east-bound in a car at the time and as we drove past I craned out of the window for a last look. The Whitehall clean-up crew would arrive soon, I assumed, and I gawped because I wouldn’t see it again.

But I did. The next day, there it still was, and the day after that, and the one following. I’ve been back every day since just to check. Whoever monitors the MoD CCTV will be alert after repeat appearances of a dishevelled woman in a black anorak standing staring at the building looking haunted and confused.

I am confused. We’re now right at the culmination of Operation Steadfast Defender, an exercise specifically designed to show the world that Nato forces are not to be trifled with. We’ve been told repeatedly about the vital importance of showing our enemies how proud and well organised we are. I cannot for the life of me understand why it’s all right to leave the MoD Main Building looking like an abattoir; as if some giant bleeding carcass had been slapped repeatedly against its side.

The incident itself happened on 10 April and it was embarrassingly easy for the protestors. The video that’s doing the rounds shows four or five wan eco-toffs (Youth Demand) vaulting the railing in front of the building and then using fire extinguishers filled with house paint to spray the walls.