Rejected petition Review and dismantle all statues of slave traders across the UK

Rejected on 22 June 2020

Review all statues for their involvement in the British and international history of the slave trade. Dismantle all statues across the United Kingdom of individuals who supported, profited and/or facilitated the slave trade.

The United Kingdom has a duty of care to it's black British population with regards to it's historic involvement in the international slave trade. The statues of slave traders throughout the United Kingdom serve as a constant reminder that we have excused ourselves for the suffering we inflicted on nations of people. Dismantling these statues would be both a symbolic and very real gesture towards the beginning of an actioned apology to the black people of the UK and beyond.

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

Decisions about individual historical monuments, statues, plaques and street names are a matter for the local authority in which they are located and private landowners, not the UK Government or Parliament.

If you want to raise concerns about a particular historical monument or statue you should contact your local authority about this.

The Local Government Association has published an advice note to help councils work to ensure all sections of the community feel heard by decision-makers and each other: https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/community-safety/statues

We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:

Encourage and support the removal of memorials that glorify the slave trade: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325449

Create an advisory board to review public statues and decide on their removal: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325673

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.