Liberal Democrat politicians in Bristol have said they cannot condone the toppling of the city’s Edward Colston statue.
But they have also expressed sympathy with the historic actions of protestors on Sunday (June 7) saying the removal of the statue was “symbolic” and its resting place at the bottom of the harbour “fitting”.
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 the Black Lives Matter demonstration took place.
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Their actions have polarised public and political opinion, with local Tory councillors describing the statute’s toppling as “a wanton act of criminal damage”.
Others, including the city’s elected mayor, Labour’s Marvin Rees, have openly expressed their sympathy with the protestors’ frustrations but stopped short of supporting what police are investigating as a crime.
Attempting to walk a similar fine line, Bristol’s Liberal Democrat group joined the debate yesterday (June 8).
Group leader Gary Hopkins said: “While the Bristol Liberal Democrats understand the deep levels of frustration people felt, and why they felt it had to come down, we cannot condone the tearing down of the statue.”
Lib Dem mayoral candidate Mary Page said police were right not to intervene, as a “heavy handed” approach could have resulted in injuries.
“However, the police do need to investigate if crimes were committed by a tiny percentage of the otherwise peaceful and law-abiding protesters, and the individuals involved should face due process and a jury of their peers,” she said.
“We, like many others, cannot fathom why the statue was put up in the first place, and how it has taken so long for it to be removed,” she added.
Cllr Hopkins blamed Mr Rees for not removing the statue sooner but backed the mayor’s suggestion to fish it out of the harbour and put it on display in a museum.
Equal rights activist Tara Murray, who was the Lib Dem’s candidate in January’s by-election in Brislington East, a seat won by Labour’s Tim Rippington, said the statue’s removal was symbolic and did not erase history but “added a new chapter”.
Ms Murray said the actions of the protestors who tore down the statue signified an ending to the city’s “acceptance” of a symbol of how Bristol still “venerated” a slave trader who profited from the ruination of “tens of thousands of African lives”.
Cllr Hopkins said it was “fitting” the statue was thrown into the harbour when “so many slaves were thrown into the sea”.
He called for a replacement memorial to “commemorate all the lives lost, to celebrate the equality and freedoms won, [and] to create a beacon of hope that brings us together to unite us not divide us”.
