British police say they accessed an incident where British actor, musician, TV host and aspiring politician Laurence Fox set Pride flags on fire, but ultimately found he had not committed any crime.
Warning: This story has details of violence which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
Last weekend Fox posted a video of himself in his garden setting bunting of the Pride Progress flag on fire. The flag is the combination of the traditional Pride flag featuring a chevron with the additional colours of the Black Lives Matter movement and the transgender flag.
In the clip he is wearing a TV shirt with a rainbow in Pride colours which forms the saying ‘Pride comes before the fall’. In the titles for the video Fox says a friend bought him “child mutilation bunting” and it “got the treatment it deserved.”
“The most holy month of child mutilation. This is what I think of your disgusting, vile, child sacrificial flag.”
“Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye Pride, which isn’t Pride. It’s just a celebration of the mutilation of children. And you can shove it.” Fox said as he set the flags alight.
In follow up posts Fox said he was taking a stance against the Black Lives Matter and transgender representation on the flag but had no beef with the original Pride flag.
British police say they looked into the incident after receiving complaints from the public but determined that no laws had been broken.
“The Metropolitan Police recognises that this incident has caused community concern and we take any allegation of hate crime seriously. We will continue to work alongside our partners to support and protect all our communities in London.” a police spokesperson said.
Fox is best known for his long running role in the British TV series Lewis. He played the role of Detective James Hathaway from 2006 until 2015.
He is part of the Fox acting dynasty, his father James Fox has enjoyed a long career, as has his uncle Edward Fox. His cousin Emilia Fox stars in the television series Silent Witness, while her younger brother Freddie Fox has appeared in many series including Cucumber, Banana, and The Great. Laurence Fox was previously married to singer and actor Billie Piper.
In 2016 Laurence Fox launched a music career, but he later turned to politics launching the right-wing Reclaim party.
Fox appears as a political commentator on British news channel GB Talk. He ran for Mayor of London in 2021 but only attracted 1.9 per cent of the vote. He has recently announced he will be running in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election that has been trigged by the retirement of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The Reclaim Party attained their first seat in the British parliament in May when MP Andrew Bridgen joined the party. He had been kicked out of the Conservative Party for comparing Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.
OIP Staff
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