Submitted on Monday 8th June 2020
Rejected on Friday 19th June 2020
Current status: Rejected
Rejection code: irrelevant (see below for details)
Remove the statue of slave owner William Beckford (1709-70) Guildhall, London.
Remove the statue of William Beckford (1709-70). This statue currently sits in Guildhall (a civic building) London.
William Beckford inherented sole ownership of 13 plantations, owning approximately 3000 slaves.
The statue is of William Beckford, a plaque celebrating his life and his defence of the ‘City’s traditional liberties’. He is flanked by the figures of Commerce and Britannia.
Monuments like these rarely show the complete, horrific impact of slave owners. They stand to glorify figures who profited from slavery, something that should not be associated with London, or its ‘traditional liberties’.
You can't sign this petition because it was rejected. But you can still comment on it here at Repetition.me!
The Government e-Petitions Team gave the following reason:
Decisions about individual historical monuments, statues, plaques and street names are a matter for the local authority in which they are located and private landowners, not the UK Government or Parliament.
If you want to raise concerns about a particular historical monument or statue you should contact your local authority about this.
The Local Government Association has published an advice note to help councils work to ensure all sections of the community feel heard by decision-makers and each other: www.local.gov.uk/topics/community-safety/statues
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Encourage and support the removal of memorials that glorify the slave trade: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325449
Create an advisory board to review public statues and decide on their removal: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325673
3.142.55.138 Sun, 22 Dec 2024 10:55:45 +0000
