We will save Britain's statues from the woke militants who want to censor our past
For centuries, public statues and monuments have been erected to celebrate individuals and great moments in British history. Most were erected not by government diktat like in the Soviet Union – but by public subscription, by a borough, village or a parish, a college, a regiment or a local business. They reflected the people’s preferences at the time, not a single, official narrative. They are hugely varied, some loved, some reviled, many forgotten, but all part of the weft and weave of our uniquely rich history.
Latterly there has been an attempt to impose a single, often negative narrative which not so much recalls our national story, as seeks to erase part of it. This has been done at the hand of the flash mob, or by the decree of a “cultural committee” of town hall militants and woke worthies. We live in a country that believes in the rule of law, but when it comes to protecting our heritage, due process has been overridden. That can’t be right. Local people should have the chance to be consulted whether a monument should stand or not. What has stood for generations should be considered thoughtfully, not removed on a whim or at the behest of a baying mob.
The statues at risk are not just those of figures who are seldom remembered. It is absurd and shameful that the statue of Winston Churchill should be questioned. Nor is Horatio Nelson safe from the revisionist purge; Lambeth Council has suggested that Nelson’s Row may need to be re-named and campaigners have set their sights on Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square.
Labour’s support for this attack on our past is not a relic of the days of Jeremy Corbyn. It’s happening under Labour councils and mayors across the country now, personally encouraged by Keir Starmer, his Shadow Cabinet and Local Government Association Labour Group. Not content with ripping down heritage, Labour in London has raised the prospect of removing tombs of those who are now seen as “offenders” – literally digging up the dead.
Street names are also in their sights. Labour-run Birmingham City Council has already banned new streets being named after historic figures, in place of the anodyne “Diversity Grove” and “Humanity Close”. Residents face the inconvenience (and embarrassment) of their addresses being forcibly changed.
We cannot – and should not – try to edit or censor our past. At the heart of liberal democracies is a belief that history should be studied, not censored. We should apply the same scorn to the mindless destruction of statues as to the burning of books that we disagree with.
Many of these statues were put up by previous generations, sometimes with different understandings of right and wrong. To tear them down, is, as the Prime Minister has said, “to lie about our history”. It is also to needlessly denigrate and distort our past, rather than to educate, inform and unite people. It is a path we see our American cousins are well travelled upon. And we can, I hope, agree that we don’t want to follow.
There’s a carelessness to this too. We’ve been here before when a previous generation tore down great buildings to the dismay of the silent majority and campaigners such as Sir John Betjeman. As the late Sir Roger Scruton said, the sentiment that “good things are easily destroyed, but not easily created” is one that most mature people can share. It is a belief that is at the very heart of conservatism.
The law has been used as a bulwark against thoughtless harm to our heritage before. One of my predecessors as Housing Secretary, Duncan Sandys, created Conservation Areas in 1967 to protect our beautiful towns. Like me, he didn’t envisage places being set in aspic, but he was saddened by the carelessness he witnessed to the built environment and historic buildings we inherited from previous generations.
Following in that tradition, I am changing the law to protect historic monuments and ensure we don’t repeat the errors of previous generations. Proper process will now be required. Any decisions to remove these heritage assets will require planning permission and councils will need to do so in accordance with their constitution, after consultation with the local community.
Where that does not happen, I will not hesitate to use my powers as Secretary of State in relation to applications and appeals involving historic monuments where such action is necessary to reflect the Government’s planning policies. Our view will be set out in law, that such monuments are almost always best explained and contextualised, not taken and hidden away. More details will be set out in Parliament tomorrow.
We want to see a considered approach. An approach that cherishes our past, while not being afraid to examine it. We won’t allow people to censor our past or pretend we have a different history to the one we have.
It is our privilege in this country to have inherited a deep, rich, fascinating and yes, often complex, past. We are mature enough as a society to understand that and to seek to pass it on, warts and all. To do otherwise would leave our history and future diminished.