Culture Secretary seeks to ‘retain and explain’ statues of historic figures

Lucy Frazer was speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

A statue of Edward Colston which was pulled down by protesters in Bristol (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Archive)

Ministers will publish new guidance to ensure historic statues which have been subject to removal campaigns are kept in place, Lucy Frazer has said.

The Culture Secretary said she wanted to “retain and explain” those monuments, as she hit out at cancel culture and claimed some Labour politicians were “ashamed” of the UK’s past.

The Victorian-era statue of 17th century merchant and slave trader Edward Colston was toppled into Bristol Harbour in 2020 amid protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement.

I do not want to bring down our statues or our monuments. I believe in the British people

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer

Others, including an Oxford college’s statue of British empire-era politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes, have been subject to campaigns for their removal.

Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Ms Frazer said: “What some call culture wars, I say is standing up for our principles: pride, tolerance, understanding, learning, respect, fairness and common sense.”

She pointed to the Government’s sports strategy published this summer, which “sets out a commonsense approach to trans inclusion in women’s sport”, and her “opposition to publishers sanitising books”, as examples of these principles in action.

Ms Frazer added: “And it is why I will shortly be publishing new guidance on retain and explain for statues, so that rather than tearing down our history we can understand it.”

The Culture Secretary had earlier claimed that the UK’s culture and values had “come under threat” in recent years.

She told the party conference: “There are some that want to cancel, those who seek to erase our history, shut down the view they disagree with rather than argue against it, those who would apply a two-dimensional filter of moralist outrage on actions or statements rather than understanding the nuance of language or the context of history.

“These people cast Churchill as a villain, not as the man who kept Britain free.

“Unlike some of those in the Labour party I am not ashamed of our great country’s culture, its people or its past.

“I do not want to bring down our statues or our monuments. I believe in the British people.”