Call for statue of East India Trading Company Major-general to be removed from position near Downing Street

A controversial statue of an 18th century colonialist should be removed from central London and put in a museum, according to Westminster council’s Labour opposition leader, writes Owen Sheppard, Local Democracy Reporter.

Councillor Adam Hug joined calls for the removal of Major-general Robert Clive’s statue from its position beside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, near Downing Street.

Major-general Clive led the East India Trading Company’s private army and was credited for Britain’s takeover of India.

He was also blamed for agricultural policies which led to a famine in Bengal and the deaths of three million people.

Historian William Dalrymple wrote in the Guardian on June 11 that Clive “came to be seen as the monstrous embodiment of the East India Company’s violence and corruption”.

Cllr Hug said: “It is my personal view the statue of Robert Clive belongs in a museum. There should not be simply change for change’s sake.

“Any decisions should be evidence-led and shaped by both listening to what specific statues mean to different communities today, and by the centrality of past offences to the reason they were memorialised in the first place.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that he will set up a Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm, to review whether the city’s monuments, road names, building names and street art are “appropriate” for modern times.

A Westminster council spokesman said: “It’s quite right that there is ongoing reflection of our shared history, including the statues that adorn our public spaces and the context in which they were erected, particularly when their presence may cause real hurt to sections of the community.

“We would always support education programmes to promote better understanding and give a full picture of the life of these historical figures as a way of supporting the vital discussions that are taking place about the effect they have had on the country and are still having, to this day, on our society.”

Pictured top: The statue of Major-general Robert Clive near Downing Street