G P Taylor: It's monumentally wrong to tear statues down

It stands in remembrance of a Yorkshireman who inspired many people. A goliath of a man who will always be remembered in the history of Yorkshire. Yet, to many a Lancastrian he is a figure of scorn for his fierce bump bowling and irascible personality.

In this current “snowflake” climate, I wouldn’t be surprised if people aren’t queuing up in droves to have the bronze removed.

Around the world, there is a spreading virus of protesters wanting to have statues of heroes from the past torn down.

Whether it is America, Australia or even over here, bleeding heart liberals, afraid of upsetting the great gods of multiculturalism and political correctness, are shouting from the rooftops to rid the world of what they deem to be offensive.

Like the totalitarian “safe space – no platform” movement infecting our universities, this desire to rid the country of any vaguely offensive memorial seems to be growing.

The targets are the great figures of history who suddenly become pariah-like under the spotlight of left-wing values.

Their wonderful achievements are quickly put aside.

Captain Cook becomes a racist invader, Lord Nelson a white supremacist, Churchill a divisive Zionist and Cecil Rhodes a colonialist bigot.

All are suddenly a target to be wiped off the face of the earth, so that the memory of them cannot hurt the poor little flowers who find the mere mention of their names deeply hurtful.

British history is filled with people who could be attacked in the same way. Boadicea, Queen Elizabeth I, Oliver Cromwell, all had lives that in their way were great and yet flawed.

Their lives are marked by statues in public places and serve as a reminder to us all that we stand on the shoulders of giants.

Not even Christopher Columbus can escape demands for his statue in New York to be pulled down for being a “symbol of hate”.

The idea that statues should be removed goes against everything a liberal and tolerant society stands for. The Orwellian approach of the “snowflake revolution” is not only absurd but is very damaging to the greater community.

What next? The getting rid of the waxworks of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan from Madame Tussauds for their assault on our ears in the 1980s?

It was astonishing to hear that the journalist Afua Hirsch advocated the removal of Nelson’s Column because he supported slavery.

She conveniently forgets that he saved Britain from a French invasion and fails to understand the historical context of his views.

The inconvenient truth that these protesters hide from is that the despicable and inhuman African slavery was not only sponsored by the British but by most “civilised” countries and many tribes of the African continent who took slaves during battles.

It was also one of the mainstays of the Arabic economy, with slavery still being a part of the extremist theology of Daesh – the so-called Islamic State.

Without the work of committed Christians like Hull’s William Wilberforce, the pure evil of slavery would have taken a lot longer to eradicate. The Yemen abolished slavery as late as 1962 under pressure from Britain.

Getting rid of Nelson’s Column would do little to put right the great evil that took place in the world. His statue gives us an opportunity to honestly discuss the issues of the past so that those horrendous attitudes can never be returned to.

I have to ask; will these same people seek to remove statues of Nelson Mandela? Venerated as a saint, his past as a terrorist is quickly forgotten.

At his trial, Mandela pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilising terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Mandela’s MK terrorists.

No one would ever dare to seek the removal of his statue from Parliament Square but his near neighbour Winston might soon be on the removal list if some have their way.

The statues of past heroes with flawed lives should never be seen as symbols of hate, but symbols of hope. Hope that we all can learn from the mistakes of the past.

Anything other than this is cultural fascism and those who seek to curb free speech have more guilt bestowed on them than the bronze memories of those they seek to tear down.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster and can be followed @GPTaylorauthor.