Manchester bombing: Labour candidate gets worker bee tattoo as thousands back body art campaign for victims

Inking: Labour candidate Jonathan Reynolds with tattoo artist Sam Barber
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Robin de Peyer26 May 2017
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A General Election candidate has joined thousands of people getting tattoos in solidarity with the victims of the Manchester bombing.

Labour candidate Jonathan Reynolds revealed he had got himself inked for the first time in support of the Manchester Tattoo Appeal.

The appeal, set up by tattoo artist Samantha Barber, aims to help raise £50,000 to support the families of the attack victims. Tattoo artists across the city are offering free inkings of the bee with a minimum donation of £50 to a JustGiving page, which has now raised more than £13,000.

Worker bees are a symbol of Manchester's industrial past, and are included in the city's coat of arms which dates back to 1842.

Mr Reynolds, who hopes to hold the seat of Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley, Longdendale & Dukinfield, shared news of his new body art in a Facebook post.

"I'm proud to have just had my first (& probably last!) ever tattoo done in support of the Manchester Tattoo Appeal to raise funds after Monday's terrible terror attack," he wrote.

"My constituent, Sam Barber from Stalybridge, came up with the idea, and the response from both tattoo artists and the public has been incredible."

Mr Reynolds added: "When I read about Sam’s idea, I thought it was perfect –a positive, unifying and brilliantly Mancunian response. Not hundreds but thousands of people from all parts of Greater Manchester have signed up - old, gay, straight, people of all faiths and none. We will bump into each other down the pub and in the supermarket sporting our worker bees for life."

Monday night's Manchester bombing after an Ariana Grande pop concert killed 22 people and injured 116. It was the worst terror attack in Britain since 52 innocent people were killed in the 2005 London bombings.

Tattoos as a form of protest

Meaghan Spencer

For centuries tattoos have held traditional meanings - from Polynesian tribal designs offering protection, to the oldest inkings in the world found on Ötzi the Iceman. Believed to be therapeutic remedies, the designs date back 3,300BC. But in recent years, tattoos have taken on new meanings as not only a form of expression but also a form of protest.

Dutch artist Sander van Bussel has been tattooing all 6,773 characters of the Human Rights Act onto 6,773 people since 2012. He’s hoping to create a “living work of art” with the project while encouraging participants to be “human rights ambassadors in their own environment”.

In America, parlours across the country have offered up tattoos for a small donation that will go to their local branches of Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organisation that provides sexual health care. Following President Trump’s decision to cut funding to pro-abortion groups, people have taken it upon themselves to fight back in the form of charity and ink.

Armchair activism or political protests, tattoos can send a message but in the case of Eric Hartsburg, inkings are also a money maker. The American auctioned off a section of the side of his head for $15,000 in 2012. He became a walking advertisement for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

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