Statues of slavers will be removed from City of London s Guildhall
The City will also make changes to its schools curriculums
12:40, 22 JAN 2021
(Left) A statue of Sir John Cass on the wall of the Sir John Cass Foundation; (right) the statue of William Beckford in the City of London s Guildhall (Image: Tolga Akmen/Getty Images; Wikimedia)
Statues of two historic figures with links to the slave trade will be removed from the historic Guildhall in the City of London.
The decision was taken by councillors on January 21 that the statues of Sir John Cass and William Beckford will be relocated from public display and eventually replaced with new figures or artworks.
BBC News
Published
image captionSir John Cass dealt with slave agents in Africa and the Caribbean
Statues of two politicians with links to the transatlantic slave trade are to be removed from central London.
The City of London Corporation announced it would remove statues of William Beckford and Sir John Cass from the Guildhall, in Moorgate.
The decision was made by a taskforce set up by the corporation following nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
A spokeswoman called the move an important milestone in moving towards an inclusive and diverse City .
The corporation, which looks after the Square Mile in the capital, said it was considering the future of a number of statues and road names with links to the slave trade.