Activists compile ‘hit list’ of 60 historical statues in the UK after toppling Colston
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Campaigners have compiled a list famous memorials that should be torn down from Britain’s streets including King Charles II, Christopher Colombus, Horatio Nelson and Sir Francis Drake. A group called Stop Trump Coalition who are in support of the Black Lives Matter movement are behind the latest campaign.
The activists have created an interactive map, called “Topple the Racists”, which pinpoints the location of controversial statues and allows users to add their own suggestions.
The website states: “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.”
On the list includes a plaque for former Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone at the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton.
Campaigners say Gladstone was “closely involved with the claims of his father, John Gladstone one of the largest of owners of the enslaved in the Caribbean”.
Sir Francis Drake, a 16th century English sea captain, privateer, and naval officer who co-led the Naval force that defeated the Spanish Armada is also named.
The group claim Sir Francis and his cousin John Hawkins transported Portuguese slave ships to the Spanish Caribbean.
Royalty have also been listed with the monument of 17th century King Charles II also ordered to be taken down.
Campaigners say it should be removed from Soho Square, London, as the monarch “founded the Royal African Company which transported approximately 212,000 slaves, of whom 44,000 died en route between the years 1662 and 1773”.
Meanwhile most recently a memorial for the first female MP Nancy Astor – has also been listed.
The statue was unveiled in Plymouth last year by former Prime Minister Theresa May and campaigners describe Lady Astor as “an anti-Semite and a Nazi supporter”.
Two slave trader statues have been pulled down in recent days – one by campaigners at an anti-racism protest and another with the approval of a local authority following a petition demanding its removal.
On Sunday activists tore down the monument to slave trader Edward Colston and threw it into a nearby river in Bristol.
The statue of slave owner Robert Milligan was quickly taken down from West India Quay in London’s Docklands on Tuesday evening.
The charity that owns the land where it stood promised to organise its “safe removal” following a petition launched by Tower Hamlets Labour councillor Ehtasham Haque.
In Oxford, hundreds of protesters demonstrated at the city’s university, demanding the removal of a statue of Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
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In Manchester, a petition is called for a statue of two-time British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel to be removed from Piccadilly Gardens.
Labour-led councils across England and Wales have agreed to work with their local communities to look at the “appropriateness” of certain monuments and statues on public land and council property.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has also announced a review of landmarks in the capital.
He said: “It’s a sad truth that much of our wealth was derived from the slave trade – but this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces.”
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