During an LBC phone-in session this morning, the Labour leader discussed the Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend, which saw protesters throw the statue in the harbour in Bristol.
Referring to the actions of protesters, he said that "nobody should condone lawlessness" and that the statue should have been removed "properly with consent" and placed in a museum.
It was "completely wrong" for protesters to pull down Colston statue, says Starmer - LabourList
Keir Starmer has said that it was “completely wrong” for protesters to pull down the statue of 17th-century…
labourlist.org
The memorial to Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into the harbour during yesterday's anti-racism demonstrations.
But in the first edition of his monthly phone-in, Call Keir, the Labour leader said the statue should've been removed by consent long ago and placed in a museum.
He said: "It shouldn't have been done in that way. Completely wrong to pull a statue down like that.
"But that statue should have been taken down a long, long time ago.
"You can't in 21st century Britain have a slaver on a statue. Statues are there to honour people. It should have been brought down properly with consent and put in a museum.
Keir Starmer: Protesters were wrong, but Colston statue should have been removed long ago
Sir Keir Starmer has told LBC it was "completely wrong" for protesters in Bristol to rip down a statue of a 17th century slave trader.
www.lbc.co.uk
These calls of the right way are always funny because 90% of the time the so called right way is never going to happen.
Also it's just an old statue.... Not some actually significant historical piece..
On some level a discussion about the whole everything belongs in a museum needs to be had, it's the same logic used about Confederate Statues in the US which were commissioned by White Supremacist groups like Daughter's of the Confederation being of historical value because they're old.
Edit: Full video for people who don't click links
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