Battle to save heroes’ statues
THE taxpayer-funded body in charge of preserving England’s monuments has been accused of promoting the destruction of statues of British heroes.
Historic England provoked fury with an advert for a debate on the future of statues such as Nelson’s Column under the title “Revere or remove?”.
It showed a gif – moving image – of a wrecking ball destroying the column in London’s Trafalgar Square and referred to statues of heroes as “controversial”.
Romford Tory MP Andrew Rosindell said: “It is completely shocking that a body paid for by the taxpayer to preserve and celebrate our heritage appears to be promoting its destruction.
“Historic England should not be trying to expunge Britain’s heroes from history but help them be remembered for generations to come.
“The organisation appears to have been captured by a Left-wing politically correct agenda which hates Britain’s past and the fantastic contribution that people like Nelson and others made to the world.”
Heritage minister Michael Ellis said: “Historic England receives taxpayers’ money to protect and champion the nation’s precious heritage and that is exactly what they must do. Our statues and historic buildings tell the stories of our past and they must be protected.”
Tyranny
The Historic England debate involves Left-wing commentator Afua Hirsch, who first called for Nelson’s Column to be pulled down because she claimed he promoted slavery.
She wrote in an article: “Britain’s best known naval hero used his seat in the House of Lords and his position of huge influence to perpetuate the tyranny, serial rape and exploitation organised by West Indian planters, some of whom he counted among his closest friends.”
Her article followed a campaign to pull down a statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, over his role in running Britain’s southern African colonies.
Historic England said in a statement: “A gif we shared to promote a live debate we are supporting about England’s statues showed a cartoon image of Nelson’s Column being knocked down.
“This does not mean we are in favour of demolition of any monument. The debate is about how the nation responds to criticism of our public statues and monuments and what they are thought to represent.
“The gif was intended to get this across in a quick and memorable way but we know it has caused some concern so we won’t be sharing it again.
“Debates like this are going on around the world.”