Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said the City of London risks damaging its ‘rich history’ if it goes through with a BLM-inspired bid to topple two statues.
The City of London Corporation last month declared it would remove two huge sculptures depicting ex-Lord Mayor William Beckford and philanthropist MP Sir John Cass from its Guildhall headquarters over their historic links to the slave trade.
Councillors are set to discuss the proposals – laid out in a report by its Tackling Racism Taskforce – in a private meeting today.
But Mr Jenrick is understood to have written to senior officials, including the Lord Mayor William Russell, urging them to leave the statue where it is.
He said it is in the ‘City’s own interests that heritage and tradition are given robust protection’ in a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph.
He stressed that while ‘history is ridden with moral complexity’, ministers want local authorities to ‘retain and explain – not remove – our heritage’.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick (pictured) said the City of London risks damaging its ‘rich history’ if it goes through with a BLM-inspired bid to topple two statues


The City of London Corporation last month declared it would remove two huge sculptures depicting ex-Lord Mayor William Beckford (right) and philanthropist MP Sir John Cass (left) over their historic links to the slave trade.

Councillors are set to discuss the proposals – laid out in a report by its Tackling Racism Taskforce – in a private meeting today. The statues are located in its Guildhall headquarters (pictured)
Mr Jenrick pointed out that the plans for a new law on cultural and historic heritage were already in motion which would give the the Secretary extra powers to block statue removals.
It means that if any council intends to grant permission for removal of a particular statue but Historic England objects to it, he gets the final say.
In January, the Communities Secretary pointed out that the plan would stop statues being removed by the ‘decree of a cultural committee of town hall militants and woke worthies’.
But even with the proposed law change, The City of London Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee announced it had voted to remove the statues of Mr Beckford and Sir John from their historic Guildhall headquarters.
The statue of William Beckford – a two-time Lord Mayor of London in the late 1700s who accrued wealth from plantations in Jamaica and held African slaves – will be removed, re-sited and replaced with a new artwork.
Meanwhile, the likeness of Sir John Cass – a 17th and 18th century merchant, MP and philanthropist who also profited from the slave trade – will be returned to its owner, the Sir John Cass Foundation.
Responding to Mr Jenrick’s letter, the council insisted removing them was the ‘correct’ thing to do and all planning permission procedures – and Government guidelines – will be followed.
Following the decision to remove them last month, City of London Corporation Policy Chair Catherine McGuinness said: ‘This decision is the culmination of months of valuable work by the Tackling Racism Taskforce, which has taken a comprehensive approach to addressing injustice and inequality.
‘The view of members was that removing and re-siting statues linked to slavery is an important milestone in our journey towards a more inclusive and diverse City.’
The BLM movement was sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the US where he was arrested by police.
Protesters tore down a statue of Edward Colston on Sunday, June 7, on the same day a memorial to Winston Churchill in London was defaced with the words ‘was a racist’ written on a plinth underneath.
It prompted a wave of statues being targeted with graffiti or being attacked during protests, culminating in some statues, including ones of Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill, being covered up to be protected from vandals.
The Topple the Racists campaign launched a comprehensive list of statues it wanted to see removed as it believed the names behind the monuments held racist beliefs.
The list – compiled by the Stop Trump Coalition – pinpoints the locations of 125 under-fire landmarks featured on a map.
The website lists the Beckford Statue on it’s map, with a caption reading: ‘Inherited sole interest in 13 sugar plantations in Jamaica and owned approximately 3,000 enslaved Africans.
‘Served in Jamaican National Assembly before returning to England in 1744.’
Outrage over statues led to Oriel College at Oxford University voting to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a colonialist politician in southern Africa in the 19th century.
Boris Johnson wrote last year: ‘We cannot now try to edit or censor our past. We cannot pretend to have a different history. The statues in our cities and towns were put up by previous generations.
‘They had different perspectives, different understandings of right and wrong. But those statues teach us about our past, with all its faults.
‘To tear them down would be to lie about our history, and impoverish the education of generations to come.’

They are among 125 under-fire landmarks featured on a map by Topple The Racists, a website pinpointing their locations