TEAR THEM DOWN
NO slave trader should have a statue in the UK, says minister as protesters draw up “hit list” of 60
A GOVERNMENT minister has said there should be no statues of slave traders in modern Britain as protesters drew up a "hit list" of 60 to be removed.
In a highly significant intervention, business minister Nadhim Zahawi said statues should be removed after a memorial of slaver Edward Colston was dragged down in protests in Bristol.
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Mr Zahawi told Sky News: “My opinion is any slave trader should not have a statue.
"But I wouldn't be breaking the law to take statues down, it should be done through our democratic process.
"This country is a democracy, a proud democracy and it should be up to local people to decide what they want to do with that statue and any other statue."
"If the majority of people decide that we want the statues down, then they should be taken down."
Mr Zahawi suggested statues of slavers should be "put in a museum so we can learn more about the men and women who behaved in all sorts of ways, historically, that is not appropriate in the 21st century."
“If we want to have a debate about statues, let’s have that debate and let’s elect politicians who stand on a platform saying we’ll take the statues down.”
The tearing down of Colston's statue sparked a furious debate over which people get honoured with memorials in Britain, and a statue in London of 18th century slave trader Robert Milligan was taken down yesterday.
The Topple the Racists website was published by the Stop Trump coalition in support of the Black Lives Matter protests and maps out 60 statues across Britain which pay tribute to slave traders and "racists".
Tap to activate map
Pinch, zoom and tap on the map to see what/where they are in the UK
The group said: "We believe these statues and other memorials to slave-owners and colonialists need to be removed so that Britain can finally face the truth about its past – and how it shapes our present.
They said they were inspired to start the map by the actions of the protesters in Bristol.
"Statues are exercises of public adoration. And Edward Colston made his fortune in the slave trade.
"He was part of a system of mass murder, torture and human suffering.
"We must learn from, not venerate, this terrible chapter in British colonial history."
The list of statues and street names range from statues of Christopher Columbus in Belgravia, London, the famed explorer who colonised America to stained glass windows in Cambridge and street names in Croydon.
The news comes after London Mayor Sadiq Khan demanded statues and plaques be removed and street names in London changed if they commemorate slave owners.
Mr Khan told Sky News yesterday: "We've got to realise that our public realm statues, squares, street names don't accurately reflect our values, or London, in 2020."
But he added: "I don't condone at all any attacks on our police, any disorder or criminal damages."
Full list of statues
Francis Drake - sea captain and slave trader
Drake was the first sailor to complete an entire journey of the world in one trip frm 1577 to 1580.
He helped his cousin, John Hawkins, capture slaves from the Americas and sell them to Spanish plantations.
William Gladstone
Gladstone is a former British PM whose family owned slaves in the Caribbean.
He was actively opposed to the anti-slavery movement in Britain.
When slavery was banned, he helped his father obtain today's equivalent of £10.3 million in return for freeing his slaves.
Horatio Nelson
A flag officer in the Royal Navy known for inspirational leadership and unconventional tactics during the Napoleonic wars. He was a supporter of the slave trade and actively tried to thrwart the abolitionist movement in Britain.
James George Smith Neill - monument - Ayr, Wellington Square
Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde – Statue - Glasgow, George Square
Sir Robert Peel - Statue - Glasgow, George Square
Henry Dundas – Statue - Edinburgh, St Andrew's Square
Grey's Monument - Newcastle Upon Tyne, Grainger Street
William Armstrong - Memorial - Newcastle Upon Tyne, Eldon Place
Statue of Sir Robert Peel in George Square, Glasgow
Robert Peel – Statue - Leeds, Woodhouse Moor
Robert Peel – Statue - Preston, Winkley Square
Robert Peel – Statue - Bury
Robert Peel – Statue - Manchester, Piccadilly Gardens
Oliver Cromwell – Statue - Manchester, Wythenshawe Road
Oliver Cromwell – Statue - Warrington, Bridge Street
Bryan Blundell - Blundell House - Liverpool, Liverpool Blue Coat School
Christopher Columbus – Statue - Liverpool, Sefton Park Palm House
William Leverhulme – Statue - Wirral, outside Lady Lever Art Gallery
Henry Morton Stanley – Statue - Denbigh, Hall Square
William Gladstone – Statue - Hawarden, Gladstone's Library, Church Lane
Elihu Yale – Wetherspoons Pub - Wrexham, Regent Street
Black man's head caricature - Ashbourne, Green Man
Robert Clive – Statue - Shrewsbury, The Square
Robert Peel – Statue - Tamworth, 27 Market Street
Statue of Oliver Cromwell on Bridge Street, Warrington
Oliver Cromwell – Statue - St Ives, Market Hill
Ronald A. Fisher – Memorial - Cambridge, Gonville and Caius College
Sir Thomas Picton – Memorial - Carmarthen, Picton Terrace
General Nott - Statue - Carmarthen, Nott Square
Thomas Phillips – Memorial plaque - Brecon, Captain's Walk
Cecil Rhodes – Statue - Oxford, Oriel College
Christopher Codrington – Rename Library - Oxford, Codrington Library, All Souls College
Rename Rhodes Arts Complex and Rhodes Avenue - Bishop's Stortford, Cecil Rhodes
Sir Thomas Picton – Statue - Cardiff, Cardiff City Hall
Edward Colston – Rename Colston Hall and Colston Street - Bristol, Colston Street
Henry Overton Wills III – Wills Memorial Building - Bristol, University of Bristol
Edward Colston – Statue - Bristol, Bristol Harbour
Edward Colston - Building - Bristol, Colston Tower, Colston Street
Captain Edward August Lendy & Captain Charles Frederick Lendy – Memorial Statue - Sunbury-on-Thames, Pantiles Court
Edward Colston – Rename Colston Road - Mortlake, Colston Road
William Beckford – School - London, Dornfell Street
Statue of Robert Clive in The Square, Shrewsbury
Robert Geffrye – Statue located on the Museum of the Home - London, Kingsland Road
Francis Galton – Galton Lecture Theatre - London, Gower Street
Charles II of England – Statue - London, Soho Square Gardens
King James II – Statue - London, Trafalgar Square
Robert Clive – Statue - London, Westminster, King Charles Street
Oliver Cromwell – Statue - London, Houses of Parliament
Sir Robert Clayton – Statue - London, St Thomas' Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road
Sir Henry De la Beche – Name on front of Imperial College - London, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus
Christopher Columbus – Monument - London, Belgrave Square Garden
Thomas Guy – Statue - London, Guys Hospital
Thomas Guy - London, Guy's Hospital
Robert Milligan – Statue - London, Tower Hamlets, West India Quay
Sir Francis Drake, Robert Blake, Horatio Nelson – Statues - London, Deptford Town Hall, Goldsmiths College
Sir Francis Drake, Robert Blake and Horatio Nelson – Statues - London, Goldsmiths Uni Deptford Town Hall
Statue of Sir Robert Clayton on Westminster Bridge Road, London
Lord Kitchener – Statue - Chatham, Khartoum Road
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington – Plaque - Brighton, Western Road
William Ewart Gladstone – Plaque - Brighton, Royal Albion Hotel
Redvers Buller – Statue - Exeter, Hele Road
Francis Drake – Statue - Tavistock, Drakes Roundabout
Nancy Astor – Statue - Plymouth, Hoe Park
Francis Drake - Statue - Plymouth, Plymouth Hoe
Meanwhile, it has been announced 130 Labour councils across England and Wales will begin reviewing monuments and statues in their towns and cities.
It means dozens more monuments could be removed.
A statement posted on Twitter said: "LGA Labour have consulted with all Labour council leaders, and there is overwhelming agreement from all Labour councils that they will listen to and work with their local communities to review the appropriateness of local monuments and statues on public land and council property."
'APPROPRIATE MONUMENTS'
And in Scotland, Adam McVey, leader of Edinburgh city council, told BBC Radio Scotland he would feel “absolutely no sense of loss” if the statue of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville responsible for delaying the abolition of the slave trade by 15 years, was removed from the 150ft Melville Monument.
Yesterday a statue of Robert Milligan - thought to have owned some 500 slaves - was removed from the West India Quay in east London following a petition from a Labour MP.
Milligan was the driving force behind the building of the West India Docks in London.
He also traded slaves in Jamaica.
Reports say the statue's removal was met with cheers and applause from onlookers.
Milligan's statue had stood outside the Museum of the Docklands near the West India Quay he helped create near Canary Wharf.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan added the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm would work to introduce statues and memorials which "better reflect London" including the inclusion of more black, disabled and LGBTQ+ people.
Some of statues that could be part of a cull are slave traders and owners William Beckford, John Cass and Thomas Guy.
Former Lord Mayor of London William Beckford, who has a statue inside London's Guildhall, is believed to have owned around 3,000 slaves in plantations in Jamaica.
Sir John Cass was a philanthropist and a slaver, who was a member of the Royal African Company's Court of Assistance for three years in the 1700s.
The foundation set up in memory of him provides support to schools and universities in London - including the Cass Business school.
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Thomas Guy, who one King's College London's campuses is named after, made his fortune off of investing in the slave trade.
Yesterday, people were spotted trying to fish the statue of Colston out of the Bristol harbour as conflict emerged over how the protesters have behaved and whether statues should be removed.
A website called Topple the Racists has been set up mapping out all the statues across Britain they demand should be taken down.
Senior police chief Andy Bennet, who led the Avon and Somerset police operation in Bristol during the protests, said having officers guard the statue would have led to further violence and vandalism in the city.
He said Bristol should be "proud" of the way the city handled the protests.
He told the Bristol Post: “No one got hurt and we had no arrests in the whole protest. That is 10,000 passionate people — Bristol should be proud of itself.”
On the scrap heap - statues that could be torn down
Cecil Rhodes - slave trader
Rhodes was a 19th century mining magnate and imperialist who helped Victorian Britain colonise much of Southern Africa. A scholarship in his name at Oxford was set up to help non-Brits study there. Beneficiaries include Bill Clinton and three former Australian PMs.
William Beckford - plantation owner
Former Lord Mayor of London William Beckford, who has a statue inside London's Guildhall, is believed to have owned around 3,000 slaves in plantations in Jamaica.
Sir John Cass - member of the Royal African Company
Sir John Cass was a philanthropist and a slaver, who was a member of the Royal African Company's Court of Assistance for three years in the 1700s.
The foundation set up in memory of him provides support to schools and universities in London - including the Cass Business school.
Thomas Guy - made money off the slave trade
Thomas Guy, who one King's College London's campuses is named after, made his fortune off of investing in the slave trade.
Mr Khan said the recommendations from the new commission would probably be that some statues would have to be pulled down.
He clarified: "I suspect the commission may come back and say it's not appropriate to be memorialising, to be celebrating these people.
"It's a discussion we should have and it's really important to bring in diverse voices, we can imagine - there are statues of people who were involved in the Royal African Company in London.
"There are statues of plantation owners and their contribution is solely the money they made through plantations."
But Mr Khan said not all statues would be included in the review - such as that of famed former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose memorial was defaced by protester who wrote he "was a racist" over the weekend.
The London Mayor said people needed to learn about famous figures, such as Churchill, Gandhi and Malcolm X, "warts and all" and that "nobody was perfect."
Following the tearing down of the statue of Edward Colston, there are fears the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University could also be taken down as protesters plan to stage a demonstration at 5pm.
The Rhodes Must Fall Oxford campaign group has called for the image of the mining magnate and empire builder to be removed from Oriel College, arguing the university has "failed to address its institutional racism".
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His comments come after Boris Johnson slammed protesters for taking the law into their own hands and pulling down the statue of Costol in Bristol over the weekend.
The PM said: "(We do not) desecrate public monuments, we have a democracy in this country.
"If you want to change the urban landscape, you can stand for election or vote for someone who will."
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