City of London to remove statues of politicians with slavery links

“Re-siting statues linked to slavery is an important milestone in our journey towards a more inclusive City.” Catherine McGuinness, City of London Corporation Policy Chair.

Catherine McGuinness, City of London Corporation Policy Chair, says in a statement: “This decision is the culmination of months of valuable work by the Tackling Racism taskforce, which has taken a comprehensive approach to addressing injustice and inequality. The view of members was that removing and re-siting statues linked to slavery is an important milestone in our journey towards a more inclusive and diverse City.

The City of London Corporation held a consultative exercise last year asking people for their views on statues and other landmarks in the Square Mile linked to slavery, which drew more than 1,500 responses. Meanwhile, a Tackling Racism taskforce set up last June by the Corporation in the wake of last year’s Black Lives Matter protests recommended the Beckford and Cass statues be removed.

By Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper