Rejected petition Statues of national importance or maritime achievement are not to be removed

Rejected on 7 July 2020

Local councils shall be directed that removal or modification of historical monuments or statues from public places can only be undertaken following the agreement of a majority of the electorate to whom they belong.

The development of Britain as a maritime nation and colonial power was essential to our survival in many wars. There are aspects of our history that in modern day are unacceptable but slavery was not exclusive to Britain, (Barbary Pirates 1600s) we can not chose our history and it should not be eradicated because it causes offence to some.
In Martin Luther Kings words - "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness".

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.

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

Protect all monuments and statues from being taken down: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325814

Make it a specific offence to desecrate national flags, symbols and monuments: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/325545

Require referendums on the removal of historically significant statues: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/326361

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