Slave trader statue recovered

The statue of slave trader Edward Colston that was pulled down during an antiracism demonstration was lifted out of Bristol Harbour yesterday.

Bristol City Council posted a video clip on Twitter of the monument being fished out of the water.

It tweeted: “Early this morning we retrieved the statue of Colston from Bristol Harbour. It is being taken to a secure location before later forming part of our museums collection.”

Bristol mayor Marvin Rees has previously confirmed that the Colston statue will be exhibited in a museum, alongside placards from the Black Lives Matter protest.

A decision on how the statue’s empty plinth will be used will be decided through democratic consultation, he said.

The statue was pulled down on Sunday amid worldwide protests triggered by the death of George Floyd.

Mr Floyd died after a white police officer held him down by pressing his knee into his neck for almost nine minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.

Pressure continues to mount on authorities to remove contentious monuments, with Labour-led councils across England and Wales agreeing to work with their local communities to look at the “appropriateness” of certain monuments and statues on public land.

The Colston statue’s retrieval comes after a senior Labour MP said its forced removal was the result of years of frustration with the democratic process.

Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Why was that statue removed in the way that it was removed?

“Because, for 20 years, protesters and campaigners had used every democratic lever at their disposal petitions, meetings, protests, trying to get elected politicians to act - and they couldn’t reach a consensus and they couldn’t get anything done. That is why people are so frustrated.”