UK man becomes symbol of London protests with his 'special coffin'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A 66-year-old man from London is among thousands of people who take part in countless protests in London, but what makes him different from others is his unique brand of activism -- conveying his message with a wheeled coffin.

A British-Polish man, Wojtek Dmochowski was born in Ealing, the main hub of London's Polish community. Like many other Londoners, he takes part in protests held in the capital focused on various causes, from anti-racism to the environment.

But a few years ago, when he decided to attend a protest against cuts to the national education budget, he came up with an unusual idea to attract more attention through what he calls "a very striking visual image."

On a demonstration day, the father of three wears his suit, black armband, and an attention-grabbing hat, and tows a coffin behind his 112-year-old bicycle, getting everyone's attention when he is approaching a protest area by tooting some horns.

Dmochowski, who works as an English for Speakers of Other Languages lecturer at Tower Hamlets College, spoke to Anadolu at his home in Hackney about his "coffin protest" and the story behind this unusual way of expressing ideas.

"(First), I made a coffin at work because we had to do a demonstration about the cuts to the further education budget. And it was all the whole college (staff), from the principal (downwards). Everyone was involved. We had coaches and they took us to the parliament, and I thought that would be a very good image," he said.

He said the first coffin that he made at the college was destroyed while the second one was thrown away by the college.

Dmochowski added that the one —third one— that he is using now was given to him by someone in the local Labour Party, in which he used to be a member.

He carried the coffin via bus to demonstrations, however, he said that suddenly, bus drivers began refusing him to get on the bus with the coffin due to "health and safety."

Then, Dmochowski decided to assemble the wheels to the coffin which would allow him to carry with his bicycle. In the meantime, he also strengthened it by putting some wood inside.

"I must be more independent," he noted.

“The bicycle I use is very old. It was made in 1911, it's heavy in itself. And then, that coffin is towed behind it, slows me down, and it's very noisy. But apart from that, the noise is quite good because everybody hears it.”

Dmochowski said that depending on a demonstration, he always has something written on the sides of the coffin, adding that the last one was about the latest Extinction Rebellion protests.

About a question on public reaction to a man who is cycling with a coffin by hooting in central London, Dmochowski expressed his pleasure over people's very good reactions.

"Sometimes when I'm cycling along, people blow their horns, ... really always positive."

- 'Everything's got worse'

Expressing why he protests and what he opposes, Dmochowski decried the government's social policies, claiming that Conservative governments "have lied to people for 13 years."

"Elderly people are dying from the cold. They know that's true. Children are hungry, going to school without having breakfast. ... People are homeless, living and dying on the streets. Everything's got worse."

Millions of people are going to food banks due to the cost of living crisis, he said, adding that he has never seen such a thing before: "We didn't have food banks. We didn't have people sleeping on the streets. Children got fed. The rich paid their taxes when I was young."

A record 760,000 people in the UK have visited food banks over the past 12 months, while nearly 3 million emergency food parcels have been distributed by food banks in the same period, according to a report published last week by Trussell Trust, a British food bank charity.

"Living conditions have got worse, life expectancy is going down. I don't know any young person, my children included, who thinks the future is going to be better than it is now. And that's the first time that's ever happened since the war."

Referring to Brexit, which, he said, has exacerbated the problems, Dmochowski noted that small companies "have gone bust" due to the "unbelievable" paperwork.

"A lot of companies in Europe will no longer send goods to England, because it's not worth the candle," he added.

"And we need workers. Fruit is rotting in the fields, flowers are fading in fields because we don't have the workers. ... It's been an absolute disaster for farmers."

Criticizing the privatization of utilities, Dmochowski also said privatization of railway companies makes these services more expensive.

"Railway companies are privatized. Foreign governments have a large percentage of ownership and they use the profits they make from British Railways to finance their own national rail networks and keep the prices low. ... Why do we have to pay the highest rail tickets in the whole of Europe?"

Dmochowski said "no," when asked if he has any plans to end his "coffin protest" anytime soon.

"I'll end when we no longer need the protest because we have to stop it," he noted.