Labour councils to review public monuments after slave owner statue targeted in Black Lives Matter protest
Labour councils will review the statues in their areas (PA)
2 min read
Labour councils have announced they will look again at all the monuments in their areas after the statue of a slave owner was torn down during a Black Lives Matter protest.
The party’s Local Government Association (LGA) group said there was “overwhelming agreement” from civic leaders to “work with their local communities to review the appropriateness” of sculptures on public land and council property.
On Sunday the bronze of Edward Colston, who made his fortune in the slave trade, was removed from its plinth in Bristol and thrown in the city’s harbour.
Since then campaigns have been set up to remove similar monuments across the country, with around 200 people gathering on Tuesday outside Oriel College at the University of Oxford to demonstrate against a statue of the imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
Earlier, the Canal and River Trust agreed to remove the statue of another slave trader, Robert Milligan, from London Docklands.
In response, LGA Labour group deputy leaders Antoinette Bramble and Michael Payne released a statement saying: “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.”
Steve Reed MP, Labour's Shadow Communities Secretary said: “We welcome the decision by Labour councils to listen to their local communities to make sure monuments and statues on public land are appropriate and represent local people’s values.”
On Monday Home Secretary Priti Patel had said it was up to Labour-run local authorities to listen to calls for statues to be removed.
She was asked in the Commons by Labour MP Zarah Sultana: “Does she believe that it is right that black Britons have to walk in the shadows of statues glorifying people who enslaved and murdered their ancestors - yes or no?”
Ms Patel replied: “I hope that the honourable lady will join me in lobbying councils across the country - where Labour has been in charge for many years - to bring about the change that black, Asian and minority ethnic people would like to see.”
The move by Labour councils came as the party's leader leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner were photographed kneeling in solidarity with anti-racism protesters.
Posting the image on Twitter with the BlackLivesMatter hashtag, Sir Keir wrote: "We kneel with all those opposing anti-Black racism."
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