For someone based miles away from the capital in the Devon town of Exeter, Katie Hopkins seems to have a lot to say about London’s reaction to Wednesday’s terror attack on Westminster – all of it hyperbolic and false.
Contrary to Hopkin’s comments in an article for the Daily Mail and later in an interview with right-wing US news channel Fox News, Londoners have once again remained stoic in the face of terrorism and people go on with their daily businesses as they always have done.
Al-Qaeda’s coordinated 7/7 attacks in 2005, the IRA’s reign of bomb attacks between 1970 and 1999, and carpet bombing by the Nazis during the Second World War, did little to dampen the city’s resolve to carry on. A knife-wielding man driving a 4X4 is nothing.
London mourns the loss of life on its streets, and police and security services will continue to work tirelessly to close the net around anyone involved in helping Khalid Masood prepare his attack. But everyone was back to work on Thursday morning, with the pubs, bars, and clubs filled in the evening as they are very other day. No-one in London is cowed. No-one in London is nervous.
If Katie Hopkins feels belittled and “small”, that might be because her hate-filled attitude has never been less welcome in London – a city that feels even closer knit today than ever and resolutely open to the world. Hopkins and her alt-right colleagues have the same end-game as the radical Islamists – to create a world where countries are closed and nasty to anyone with a different religion or skin-tone. Sadly for them, the world is open, London is open, and their closed views have been left behind.
A few highlights of the responses to Hopkins’ article and interview from Londoners and people around the world
I should know better than to be surprised by Katie Hopkins' untrue outburst on Fox News. People ARE united. We're not united with you. https://t.co/ioiVSERvuI
— Elliot Gonzalez (@elliot_gonzalez) March 23, 2017
@FoxNews @KTHopkins This gargoyle is talking nonsense. I am in London. No one is cowed, we are not afraid and we stand together.
— Jack Evans (@Jack4Evanss) March 23, 2017
@FoxNews Hello Fox. fyi we are not afraid, nor disunited. @KTHopkins speaks for herself + tiny minority. Suits your ugly narrative though.
— Chris T-T (@christt) March 23, 2017
@FoxNews @KTHopkins Dear USA, this person is not credible. A professional headline seeker.
— David Reid (@cnbcdavy) March 23, 2017
@FoxNews @KTHopkins this is bollocks, we are fine. Katie probably didn't take the tube this morning, unlike the rest of us.
— Rebecca Reid (@RebeccaCNReid) March 23, 2017
@FoxNews @KTHopkins The vast majority of the UK despise Katie Hopkins. We are not represented by her bigoted views. Stop giving her airtime
— Ľůķə (@EscapeMechanism) March 23, 2017
.@KTHopkins went on air to say London is "cowed". A "patriot" announcing defeat in the middle of the Blitz. She's Lord Haw-Haw in a dress.
— Mark Wallace (@wallaceme) March 24, 2017
ISIS CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR KATIE HOPKINS pic.twitter.com/bM9T1RxB0N
— Mallow News (@MallowNews) March 24, 2017
At dark times like these it's heartwarming to see everyone come together in their hatred of Katie Hopkins. #londonattack
— Kristian VanDerVliet (@kristianvanders) March 23, 2017
Having Katie Hopkins on Fox News to talk about British sentiment would be like having Dr Harold Shipman on to discuss best medical practice.
— Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) March 23, 2017
