“There’s a good reason why there will probably never be a public statue of Margaret Thatcher in London – and it’s also why the figure of Bristol’s slave trader should be fished out of the water and found more suitable home,” writes our associate editor Sean O’Grady.

He adds: “I would be in favour of fishing Colston out of his watery grave and rehoming him, his recent coat of blood-red paint included, as one of the exhibits in a new British park devoted to significant yet questionable figures of our morally problematic past.

“In the former Soviet states, something similar has been achieved to great success. It allows the memory of collective history, without the daily reminder of the pain and suffering for ordinary citizens.”
 

The statue of Mr Milligan, a noted West Indian merchant, slaveholder and founder of London’s global trade hub, West India Docks, is being removed from its position outside the Museum of London Docklands.

The Canal and River Trust (CRT), which owns the land where the statue is located at West India Quay, had earlier today agreed to remove it following a petition launched by Tower Hamlets Labour councillor Ehtasham Haque.

The CRT statement read: “We recognise the wishes of the local community concerning the statue of Robert Milligan at London Docklands and are committed to working with London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the Museum of London Docklands and partners at Canary Wharf to organise its safe removal as soon as possible.”

Reuters has this live footage of its removal:

The Local Government Association’s Labour group has announced it has urged Labour council leaders to work with their communities to review “the appropriateness” of monuments and statues in their areas.

Labour’s shadow communities secretary, Steve Reed, said: “We welcome the decision by Labour councils to listen to their local communities to make sure monuments and statues on public land are appropriate and represent local people’s values.”

The London mayor said the new Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will focus on “increasing representation among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (Bame) communities, women, the LGBT+ community and disability groups”, Kate Ng reports.

He also said a national slavery memorial and a national Sikh war memorial should be erected in London.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Khan said: “I’m all in favour of our city reflecting the values that we have and also the diversity of our city – more murals, more blue plaques, more statues of people that reflect that side to you.

“For example, I think there should be in London a national slavery memorial, a national Sikh memorial, I think we should be commemorating great black Britons from Stephen Lawrence to many others.”
 

Here are some the scenes in Oxford today, with demonstrators blocking the city’s high street and taking the knee to mourn George Floyd, whose funeral is being held today in Houston.

A majority of members of Oxford City Council have signed a letter urging Oxford University to immediately remove the statue of white imperialist Cecil Rhodes, Vincent Wood reports.

Twenty-six councillors have signed a letter saying Oriel College’s monument – an early architect of South African apartheid – was not compatible with the city’s “commitment to anti-racism”.

Campaigners have reignited the campaign to remove the statue amid increasing calls to remove the legacy of racism and colonialism from institutions.

The statue of Rhodes, who argued of the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon master race, has remained a point of contention outside the college since 2015 when a campaign demanded the figure fall from its position overlooking Oxford’s High Street.

At the time the university refused to remove the sculpture – instead opting to add “a clear historical context to explain why it is there”.

A petition signed by thousands of activists said: “We are reigniting the calls for the statue to be removed, as soon as possible. As long as the statue stands the University is only alienating those of whom Rhodes’ beliefs have persecuted and oppressed to this very day”.