Tory members of Bristol City Council have branded the toppling of the city’s Edward Colston statue “criminal damage” and called for the “perpetrators” to be prosecuted.
Protesters pulled down the bronze figure of the 17th century slave trader, rolled it to Bristol Harbour and dumped it in the floating harbour as a Black Lives Matter demonstration took place on Sunday, June 7.
Last night, Conservative group leader Cllr Mark Weston said: “I do not believe that anyone has the right to deface or destroy public property, no matter how warranted they believe their actions or motivation to be.
“I believe that the perpetrators should be prosecuted for what is a wanton act of criminal damage.”
His comments echoed the sentiments of senior Tory MPs, home secretary Priti Patel and Bristol-raised Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid, who condemned the felling of the statue.
Cllr Weston and fellow Conservative councillor Steve Smith said Colston and his slave-trading contemporaries were a “shameful” part of Bristol’s history, “however uncomfortable that is”.
In a tweet, Cllr Smith called for “real debate” about how the city recognises and learns from its history, adding “violent mobs and criminal damage cannot be the answer”.
Labour councillor Helen Godwin said Conservative members of the council were “out of touch” with the rest of the city.
There was little if no support for the Tory viewpoint on Twitter, with several saying the statue had “no business” being anywhere other than a museum.
Bristol-based science writer Jon Turney called its removal a “well-judged demolition” and said there was “no violence” and “no mob” involved.
Historian Kate Williams pointed out that years of debate about the Colston statue have come to nothing.
Marti Burgess, the first black member of the Society of Merchant Venturers, of which Colston was a member, said those resistant to change had “squandered” opportunities to “contextualise” or put the statue in a museum.
Former Bristol mayor George Ferguson said he “regrets” not removing the statue while he had the chance.
Meanwhile, organisers of the protest have distanced themselves from the removal of the statue and Avon and Somerset Police have launched an investigation into “the act of criminal damage”.
Officers did not intervene in the statue’s toppling in a decision they said was “tactical”.
