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Reeling from terror attacks? Not us, British tweeters tell ‘New York Times’

#ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling: humour and resilience in wake of London killings

#ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling: tweeters rejected the New York Times’s take on Saturday’s terror attacks in London
#ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling: tweeters rejected the New York Times’s take on Saturday’s terror attacks in London
Elaine Edwards
Sun Jun 04 2017 - 17:57

Many British people were unimpressed to wake up on Sunday to a headline in the New York Times that said Britain was reeling after its second terror attack in as many weeks.

They took to social media to reject the suggestion that the country was engulfed by fear in the aftermath of the Manchester suicide bombing, at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22nd, in which 22 people died.

While there was anger and sadness at the murders in London on Saturday night, so too was there humour and resilience – and a clear message that life in the city and in the rest of Britain was carrying on as normal.

The Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, who has more than 10 million followers, tweeted: “The thugs who mowed down innocent people would love to think of the UK ‘reeling’ but it isn’t. Don’t confuse grief with lack of courage.”

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Inevitably, a hashtag was born, bringing together all the tweets about #ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling.

As with most things on Twitter, the theme quickly veered into the bizarre, with some people weighing in on things they did not like. This included everything from the right order in which to put jam and cream on a scone to foreigners not speaking English when Brits go abroad.

“When someone gives you a cup of tea that is almost white because it’s so milky. Unacceptable,” said one woman, adding the #ThingsThatLeaveBritainReeling hashtag to a picture of her anaemic beverage.

Scottieboy (@merseytart) remarked on some more London coverage from the other side of the Atlantic. "Woman on CNN talking about London's streets being eerily quiet. Mate, it's Sunday. They're not cowering in fear. They're having a lie-in," he wrote.

Tom Philips, aka @flashboy, chimed in: "Soon, Londoners will bravely stand in defiance of their hangovers and go for the Brunch Against Terror."

Other messages of defiance and solidarity have been posted under the #LoveLondon hashtag, among them a photo of a Tube station noticeboard reading: “London Bridge will never fall down. You can’t break our spirit.”