£30,000 bill to protect statues

TAXPAYERS have been landed with a bill of more than £30,000 for protecting statues in Parliament Square after last month’s violent Black Lives Matter protests.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, spent £10,147 to board up a vandalised statue of Winston Churchill to prevent further attacks.

Vandals had painted the words ‘Was a racist’ after the wartime leader’s name. Nearby statues of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi were also protected, costing a further £21,115. The bill to clean up Whitehall added £3,050.

Last night, Tory MP Matt Vickers, who helped clean the vandalised statue of Churchill, said: ‘There is no excuse for violence and vandalism, with taxpayers being left to pick up the tab.’