This weird attempt to try and smear Banksy only highlights that the MoJ spent an absolute fortune washing a bit of paint off a wall from an artist much loved by most people. I'm sure the same cannot be said for the MoJ.
Bristol artist Banksy's works cost taxpayers nearly £150k
YouGov shows that 53% of the British public view Banksy favourably, with roughly 32% actively "loving" or highly regarding him, 14% remaining neutral, and only about 7% disliking the street artist. The Office for National Statistics shows that 38% to 45% of the public historically express confidence in the overall effectiveness and fairness of the criminal justice system, which heavily relies on MoJ operations.
Hi. We destroyed a piece of art because we are in it and don't like that it points out our widespread failings. We spent an absolutely obscene amount of money doing this. Everyone now feel sorry for us please.
@TheBreadmonkey if the government didn’t behave like little shits they wouldn’t be a target for Banksy.
Edit: typo
@TheBreadmonkey They could have made a whole lot more by selling it.
They may have washed it off, but I, for one, have a t-shirt with an image of that very appropriate mural.
@TheBreadmonkey spending £150,000 on failing to clean some paint off a wall is not the flex they evidently think it is. Rather, it's prima facie evidence of gross incompetence and everyone involved should be fired.
@bencurthoys @TheBreadmonkey can someone tell them I'd have a go for £140,000.
@FourT4 @bencurthoys @TheBreadmonkey I'll do it for 139000
Aug 9, 2026, 1:23 PM@TheBreadmonkey Every day the BBC proves it's ready for its position in the future fascist regime 🫠
@Akki@toot.lgbt @TheBreadmonkey@beige.party IDK, the current British government sure seems fascist to me as an American dissident.
@TheBreadmonkey I now understand why the people who don't like him feel that way. What a senseless waste of everyone's time. I'm quite sure that if I drew No Love Deep Web all over public buildings, no less a court of law, the authorities would quite rightly have some questions for me.
@TheBreadmonkey In fairness, it was a gross misrepresentation of UK Justice. British judges don't use gavels.
@TheBreadmonkey I was rather confused by the headline. Surely Banksy's work cost the taxpayers nothing. REMOVING Banksy's work cost 150k. Surely the story is... Removing it wasn't worth it?
I rather think the point of the misleading headline was to, well... mislead !
@TheBreadmonkey Tiny in comparison with the money wasted by the MoJ trying to fight Palestine Action.
Shouldn’t the BBC be mentioning that for the balance they’re so keen on?
@BashStKid @TheBreadmonkey
Part of the problem is confusing Jewish folk with Zionists. Most religious Jews are anti-Zionists, the government in Israel by and large are not religious and are Zionists. Outside of that you don't have to be jewish to be a Zionist.
Zionism is a movement of colonial land grabbing and extermination of the indigenous
Aug 9, 2026, 1:27 PM@TheBreadmonkey I remember a time when the BBC was a respected media institution :sad_dog:
@bazkie @TheBreadmonkey
I remember when nobody thought about whether they were or not. But thankfully, since people have started questioning that, the BBC have always stood ready to make an internal inquiry, and it has always reached the conclusion that it's fine.
Aug 9, 2026, 5:37 PM@petealexharris @TheBreadmonkey :thisisfinefire:
@TheBreadmonkey "Being a bunch of dicks with Banksy's paintings costs the taxpayers £150.000"
@TheBreadmonkey
Meanwhile, people in #Turku #Finnland ( #Suomi ) pay an entrance fee to see his art:
https://www.mystery-banksy.fi/en/
Paying a fortune to remove a probably valuable piece of art seems to be part of what the artist intended to demonstrate - unappropriate application of power.
@TheBreadmonkey "is likely to reignite debate over whether Banksy's work is vandalism or valuable public art"
I believe the only question that should be reignited in such case is efficiency of spending the taxpayers money. 😕
@TheBreadmonkey they’re butthurt and they should be because an artist is doing a better job pointing out their shortcomings than they are
@TheBreadmonkey Now show the amount of £ generated by tourism to see Banksy art?
@TheBreadmonkey Taxpayers are really lucky, that such a ridicule expense brings in return so fine and timely art pieces.
@TheBreadmonkey @trending they could have CHARGED ADMISSION TO SEE IT ffs (sorry for yelling)
@TheBreadmonkey On a street art tour in London, we passed a Banksy piece that the city had covered with plexiglass to preserve it…because they know Banksy’s work draws valuable tourism. I wonder what’s so different about piranhas on a police box or a magister beating a protester on a court wall 🤔 I just can’t figure it out 🤔🤔🤔
(Also, they’re including £60k for *protecting* a different piece in that £150k?? Why does a statue need a security guard?)
Aug 9, 2026, 2:40 PMRead the room just a little better. We like Banksy and don’t have any faith in the MoJ.
@dtm @TheBreadmonkey @eco_amandine Ministry of Injustice . Fuckin terrorist Granny's . They will be the death o the Injustice department 🤞
@TheBreadmonkey My Aunt Dolly woulda done it for nuffink.
If an organisation spends £85k to remove approx 2msq of paint from a stone building, people should be asking serious questions of their competence.
If that organisation is the MoJ, people should also ask if the organisation understands the intent of habeas corpus.
@houba @TheBreadmonkey Most of the money went to preventing the public from seeing it before it was removed.
@houba @TheBreadmonkey “Using laser technology”? A wire brush for 2 hours would erase it for under £100, even if it was an “artisan brush artist”. Not that it ought to have been removed. Has anyone in that Ministry ever questioned or haggled over a quote? Normal practice in the private sector, and ought to be on behalf of we the public.
@TheBreadmonkey The Westminster Government spent £150 000 Destroying Masterpieces 🤷
Aug 9, 2026, 3:29 PM@TheBreadmonkey So planting a food chain by his work, justifies breathtaking art?..
@TheBreadmonkey Says more about the efficiency of public spending than anything else, tbh.
Aug 9, 2026, 3:39 PMBanksy's art is free.
Real title: Bristol spends nearly £150k of taxpayer money to destroy artwork without cause.
@TheBreadmonkey I'm not sure this was taken down yet. Took the photo a few weeks ago.
@TheBreadmonkey I think the crime was the £150k. It's like the US's $15 million pool liner fiasco.
@TheBreadmonkey If many tourists come to see Banksy's art then by removing the art, the government not only wasted money but forfeited money that tourists would have spent to come see it.
@TheBreadmonkey
I’m spitballing here but what if they just left it alone instead? Wouldn’t have cost them a cent.
Edited to add: who pays out that kinda cash to get rid of some paint on a wall? I could have done it for 100!
Aug 9, 2026, 4:22 PMAnd let's not forget about the very "brave" journalists from the very "neutral" Reuters news agency who don't seem to appreciate street art by the hero Banksy.
Are there any sincere journalists left or are they all in it for affirming status quo, or a second house or car, sensation, uproar and mouse clicks ? /s
https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/0313/1563268-banksy-reuters-investigation/
@TheBreadmonkey That 150K did provide me with an avatar for this elephant site.
LOL, BBC. The MOJ claims it cost 150,000 pounds to remove a Banksy painting from a few square meters of stone. Did it also say whether the cleaners painted the Reflecting Pool?
"MoJ's hostility towards criticism and free expression cost taxpayers nearly £150k"
I fixed the headline for them.
@EdCates @TheBreadmonkey What if — and hear me out — what if they stopped doing stupid/evil shit that triggered Banksy?
Bet that would be even cheaper.
we pay the bills, they get paid by corporations, oligarchs and Israel.
they are paid to protect the rich, and keep the rest in their place.
we are just thorns in their side.
"ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is the right thing to do”
Aug 9, 2026, 5:54 PM@TheBreadmonkey
JFC
The beeb really cutting through with ground breaking reporting there.
Definitely cleaning the art is the financial waste.
Not the prosecution of people confirming the actual law or those against genocide & apartheid it was commenting on.
@TheBreadmonkey £150k peanuts - absolute amateurs in the waste stakes
Covid, Mone, Harding, Hancock’s mate(s), VIP lane - tell me when to stop
@antjbro @TheBreadmonkey Don’t stop. If we do, it’s tacit acceptance.
I read that article this morning and thought "150K is peanuts". They recoup more than that just by having a few Banksy murals that people like me would travel to see then stop for lunch.
@TheBreadmonkey They should have just left it.
@TheBreadmonkey They could alternatively have sold postcards of the artwork and *made* £150k.
Aug 9, 2026, 9:21 PMCheap at the price.
@TheBreadmonkey it was free. It's the preservation of the art that costs the public
@TheBreadmonkey yes, I’m more a fan of Banksy than I am of the MoJ.