LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a wave of anti-racism protests across Britain had been “hijacked by extremists” amid rising fears about clashes and vandalism.
Several statues have been boarded up as a precaution, including one of former prime minister Winston Churchill and the Cenotaph war memorial in central London.
In Liverpool, street signs of Penny Lane, which was immortalised in ‘The Beatles’ 1967 song, were vandalised with graffiti claiming it was named after a slave trader. In Bannockburn, central Scotland, a statue to King Robert the Bruce, who led the Scots to victory against the English in 1314, was defaced and called a racist.
Many statues, monuments, street and building names commemorating historical figures from Britain’s colonial past have increasingly become targets for activists
There are calls for a re-examination of how the country’s historical legacy is marked in public spaces and for many monuments to be either torn down or relocated to museums. On Sunday, a statue of 17th-century slave trader and philanthropist, Edward Colston, was toppled and thrown into the harbour in Bristol.
Several television shows, including an episode of the 1970s comedy series ‘Fawlty Towers’ have been pulled from streaming services because of language now deemed offensive.
Boris Johnson said he recognised the “legitimate desire to protest against discrimination” but “we cannot now try to edit or censor our past.”
Earlier generations “had different perspectives, different understandings of right and wrong. But those statues teach us about our past, with all its faults,” he said. “To tear them down would be to lie about our history, and impoverish the education of generations to come.”
The protests were sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in police custody in Minneapolis which triggered outrage around the world.
Johnson acknowledged the anger of black and minority ethnic communities and said there had been huge strides in tackling discrimination in Britain.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged people to stay home this weekend. “Extreme far-right groups who advocate hatred and division are planning counter-protests, which means that the risk of disorder is high,” the mayor said.
Churchill’s statue was vandalised last weekend by campaigners who say his “racist” policies led to the deaths of millions of people during a famine in the Indian state of Bengal in 1943.
Johnson, who has written a biography of the wartime leader, said it was “absurd and shameful” his memorial would be targeted, as he fought against fascism and tyranny. “Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial,” the premier wrote.
Activists have compiled a list of more than 60 statues and monuments across Britain that they said celebrate slavery and racism and should be removed.
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