This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Remove Edward Colston’s name from Bristol’s buildings
We want the Government to take a stand with the Black Lives Matter movement in ensuring slave-trader Edward Colston’s name will not longer be honoured in the titles of schools, venues and other buildings in Bristol and the surrounding areas.
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Edward Colston (1636-1721) was a Bristol-based slave-trader whose ships transported 84,000 men, women and children from West Africa to the Americas. 19,000 died during the crossings and yet his name is still honoured through Bristol.
On June 7th 2020, his statue was torn down in protest for the Black Lives Matter movement. The people of Bristol have had enough of living surrounded by schools, venues and other buildings that honour his name.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
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.