News / Politics

Black Lives Matter movement secures legal status in UK

Saturday, 24 October 2020 6:24 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 24 October 2020 6:24 PM ]

The BLM movement presented a major challenge to the British establishment in the summer

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement I the UK has secured legal status and in the process it has changed its name to Black Liberation Movement UK.

It is believed the quest for legal status was largely driven by the need of the group to continue accept funding legally with a view to placing its structures on an official footing.

According to the Guardian (October 23), BLM has registered as a community benefit society so that it can accept donations to the tune of £1.2 million which has been collected via a GoFundMe appeal.

The society was reportedly registered on September 14 by academic Adam Elliott Cooper, PhD student Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert and social enterprise specialist Lisa Robinson.

In an interview with the Guardian, Cooper claimed that Black Liberation Movement UK would “continue to organize” under the BLM brand and crucially “in collaboration” with the “wider BLM movement”.

“We remain committed and our politics hasn’t changed, and we remain in constant conversation [with] and committed to the network of Black Lives Matter groups across the world”, Cooper said.

According to a registration document filed with the Financial Conduct Authority, the core activity of the Black Liberation Movement UK community benefit society comprises of “national campaigning” in support of black African and black Caribbean communities in the UK.

“The society aims to alleviate racial injustice and discrimination specifically amongst the black African and black Caribbean communities”, the document specifies.

The BLM movement organized a series of protests and demonstrations in London and other major British cities in the summer.

Anti-racism protests taking place across Britain

For the fourth weekend in a row big anti-racism demonstrations are taking place the length and breadth of Britain.

These protests were initially in support of the BLM movement in the United States but quickly escalated to espousing UK-specific demands on issues related to racial equality and justice.

Far-right groups disrupt anti-racism protests in London

Large swathes of central London descended into chaos today as far-right counter-demonstrators clashed with the police.

The movement shook the British establishment to its core by attacking controversial symbols of British history, notably statues of slave owners and even of war time leader Winston Churchill, who was derided as a racist by protesters.