Council to vote on removal of Picton statue
CARDIFF council will vote on Thursday whether to remove the statue of Sir Thomas Picton, a 19th-century war hero and “brutal” colonial governor.
Calls to remove the statue, in City Hall, followed Black Lives Matter protesters toppling a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in June. Both the lord mayor Dan De’Ath and council leader Huw Thomas have called for the removal of the Picton statue.
Picton was remembered as the highest ranking officer to die in the Battle of Waterloo, but public awareness has recently grown of his cruel actions in Trindad.
While governor of the then British colony, he authorised the illegal torture of a 14-year-old girl, which caused public outrage at the time. He was found guilty but never sentenced.
A statue of Picton was placed in City Hall in 1916, as part of the Heroes of Wales collection. Councillor Saeed Ebrahim has proposed a motion to the full council to remove the statue.
The motion reads: “The behaviour of Picton as governor of Trinidad was abhorrent, even in his own era, and not deserving of a place in the Heroes of Wales collection. Heightened awareness about the history of slavery must include a reassessment of the regard in which we hold Picton, and many others who were actors and beneficiaries of slavery.
“In hindsight it was an error to have included Picton as an option in the 1916 public vote, and an error that he had not been removed sooner.
“A democratic decision, by the representatives of the people of Cardiff, to remove the statue will send a message to black people in Cardiff and across the world that the city recognises the role people like Picton played in slavery, and that we must seek to address the systemic racism that still exists due to slavery and empire.
“Black lives matter, and none of us are equal until all of us are equal.”
If councillors approve the motion, the statue will be removed from City Hall and potentially placed elsewhere, with a “clear explanation of his actions”.