Boards around Churchill statue to be removed ahead of Macron visit
SIR WINSTON Churchill’s statue, in Parliament Square, is being uncovered ahead of the French president’s visit to London – with one Cabinet Minister saying having it boxed in “would not be a great look”.
London monuments to Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi will stay hidden behind protective screens for now.
The statues were boarded up last week, along with the Cenotaph, ahead of protests which saw far-right demonstrators clash with police as they took over areas near the Palace of Westminster and Trafalgar Square on Saturday.
There were also violent scenes in the capital the previous weekend during a Black Lives Matter protest triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US.
In London, the statue of former prime minister Sir Winston was daubed with graffiti accusing him of being a racist, while the monument
of the slave trader Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol.
A spokesman for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the boards around the Churchill statue were due to be taken down ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s visit today.
“The covering around the Winston Churchill statue will be removed for the visit of President
Macron to London,” he said. But the protective coverings around the statues of Mandela and Gandhi, which the mayor is also responsible for, will stay in place “under review”.
English Heritage said the boards around the Cenotaph were taken down on Monday night.
The French premier’s visit marks the 80th anniversary of General Charles de Gaulle’s appeal to the French population to resist the German occupation of France during the Second World War.
His rallying call was broadcast on the BBC in June 1940, when he said: “I call upon all Frenchmen who want to remain free to listen to my voice and follow me.”
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said it was “important” for boarding around the Churchill statue to be removed ahead of Mr Macron’s visit.
THE GOVERNING body of an Oxford University college has “expressed their wish” to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, following a campaign for it to be taken down.
A statement by Oriel College said the governing body had voted in favour of launching an independent inquiry into controversy surrounding the monument.
The college said it had “expressed their wish to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes and the King Edward Street Plaque” to the commission. The plaque also features Rhodes.
It follows a long-running campaign demanding the removal of the Rhodes statue, which gained renewed attention in recent weeks.
“The governing body of Oriel College has today voted to launch an independent commission of inquiry into the key issues surrounding the Rhodes statue,” the statement said.
“They also expressed their wish to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes and the King Edward Street Plaque. This is what they intend to convey to the independent commission of inquiry.
“Both of these decisions were reached after a thoughtful period of debate and reflection and with the full awareness of the impact these decisions are likely to have in Britain and around the world.
“The commission will deal with the issue of the Rhodes legacy and how to improve access and attendance of BAME undergraduate, graduate students and faculty, together with a review of how the college’s 21st-century commitment to diversity can sit more easily with its past.”
The commission will be chaired by Carole Souter, the current master of St Cross College and former chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
A report for the governing body will be produced by the end of the year, the statement added.
Demonstrations have taken place outside Oriel College calling for the statue to be removed from the High Street entrance of the building, as well as anti-racism protests following the death of George Floyd in the US.
A similar demonstration was held in Bristol, which saw protesters topple the statue of slave trader Edward Colston and throw it into a harbour.
Campaign group Rhodes Must Fall welcomed the statement by Oriel College’s governing body but said they demanded a “commitment” to remove the Rhodes statue. The group said in a statement: “However, we have been down this route before, where Oriel College has committed to taking a certain action, but has not followed through: notably, in 2015, when the college committed to engaging in a six-monthlong democratic listening exercise.
“Therefore, while we remain hopeful, our optimism is cautious. While the governing body of Oriel College have ‘expressed their wish’ to take down the statue, we continue to demand their commitment.”
The group added: “Until such time as the Rhodes statue ceases to adorn the facade of Oriel College on Oxford’s High Street, we will continue to galvanise the goodwill and energy seen across the university, particularly among a wide variety of academics.”
The statement concluded: “This is a potentially epoch-defining moment for our institution, the University of Oxford.
“We can, potentially, offer a powerful example of the decolonial project in higher education in the UK and beyond.”
This is a potentially epoch-defining moment for Oxford University.
The campaign group, Rhodes Must Fall.