Dorries cancels quango ruling by protecting Rhodes plaque

A UNIVERSITY of Oxford plaque commemorating an imperialist donor has been given Grade II listed status after Nadine Dorries intervened to protect it.

The plaque, which says it was erected to recognise “the great services rendered by Cecil Rhodes” stands at Oriel College near his statue. It has stoked division since student-led “Rhodes Must Fall” protests in 2016.

An independent inquiry following the murder of George Floyd in the US backed the wish of Oriel governors to remove the plaque, along with a statue of the 19th century benefactor.

Oriel’s governing body then backed down because legal barriers made it too costly to remove, but added “contextualised” notice boards and launched an equality and diversity drive, such as race awareness training for staff.

It has now been given listed status by Historic England which had previously said the plaque, which stands on the building named after Rhodes at the college, did not merit legal protection.

The Culture Secretary rebuked the taxpayer-funded body for “relying on a presumption against listing plaques generally”. She said it was of “special historic interest”, overturning its’ ruling four years ago not to protect it.

Rhodes, a merchant and politician in southern Africa, was a student at Oriel and left the college £100,000 when he died in 1902. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “We are committed to retaining and explaining our heritage so people can examine all parts of Britain’s history and understand our shared past.”

Rhodes, who founded Rhodesia and was prime minister of the Cape Colony in the 1890s, was not a slave trader, but supported apartheid-style measures in southern Africa. The bust was funded by Sir Alfred Mosely, a Hatton Garden diamond merchant and prominent Jewish philanthropist, as a personal tribute following Rhodes’ death.

The plaque, by Onslow Whiting, has been in place since 1906.

Following the Rhodes Must Fall protests in 2016, Historic England produced a report ruling that the plaque “does not have the special architectural or historic interest to merit listing”.