Slavery protesters target Peel statues
TOM EARNSHAW AND BILL JACOBS
STATUES of Sir Robert Peel have been listed as locations that could be targeted by those aiming not to honour those with links to the slave trade.
Sir Robert Peel - the 19th century Prime Minister who founded the police service - was brought into the conversation over his father’s involvement in the slave trade. His family originate from Oswaldtwistle and he has statues in Preston, Manchester and Bury.
There have been calls to remove statues of figures involved with slavery by ‘Black Lives Matter’ (BLM) protesters in response to the death of American
George Floyd.
It has been deemed a ‘difficult and complex issue’, but Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe says it would be ‘completely wrong’ for the statues to be removed.
She said: “Robert Peel did an awful amount of good for this country. In a society that stands up for people being judged by their own merit and success, I would find it completely wrong if his statues were removed.”
Hyndburn council leader Coun Miles Parkinson said: “You cannot hold Peel responsible for the actions of his father. He was the first Prime Minister to tackle child labour.”
Last week, the council agreed for Accrington Town Hall’s to be lit purple for three days in solidarity with the wider BLM movement.
Preston City Council has already indicated that the statue of Sir Robert is likely to remain in the city centre.
They cited confusion that exists between Peel Jr and his father - also Sir Robert Peel - who had a pro-slavery stance and opposed the Foreign Slave Trade Abolition Bill in 1806.
East Lancashire historian Roger Frost said: “This is a difficult and complex issue but it would be impossible to find any major local cotton family whose original wealth did not come in some part from slavery in the Southern United States and Caribbean and the slave trade.”