Scouts Moverment Founder Statue to be Removed
The 12-year-old
statue of Robert Baden-Powell is being removed on police advice to protect it,
says Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council.
The authority said
it recognised some aspects of his life were considered "less worthy of
commemoration".
Local Conservative
MPs said they were opposed to the removal of the statue.
Baden-Powell, who died
aged 83 in 1941, has been criticised by campaigners who have accused him of
racism, homophobia and support for Adolf Hitler.
Former Bournemouth
East Labour parliamentary candidate Corrie Drew said: "We can commemorate
the positive work without commemorating the man."
Speaking on BBC
Breakfast, she added: "A quick look into his history shows that he was
very open about his views against homosexuality and that he was a very open
supporter of Hitler and of fascism and quite a strong, outspoken racist."
Meanwhile, an online
petition to "defend Poole's Lord Baden-Powell statue" has received
more than 10,000 signatures.
Sir
Robert Syms, Conservative MP for Poole, tweeted that
he was "opposed" to the permanent removal of the statue.
Writing on Twitter, Tobias
Ellwood, Tory MP for Bournemouth East, said: "Few historical figures
comply with 21st C values. Simply expunging past connections from sight won't
correct wrongs or help us better learn from our past."
The
Tory MP for Bournemouth West, Conor Burns, also tweeted that
the removal was "a huge error of judgment" and urged authorities to
"put it back".
The life-sized
statue was installed in 2008 and faces Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, where
the Scouts began.
BCP Council leader
Vikki Slade said it was being removed and put into safe storage.
"We have had
police advice that this statue is on a target list for attack and, due to its
proximity to the water and its delicate and historic nature, I was asked to
approve its temporary removal," she said.
Deputy leader Mark
Howell said the monument might not be removed on Thursday "because the
workers can't work with so many people around the statue".
Dorset Police
confirmed the statue had been identified as a "potential target".
In a statement, the
force said: "We appreciate the local council has a difficult decision
taking into account the various opposing views held by members of the
public."
The council said it
acknowledged the differing views of Baden-Powell and it planned to involve all
relevant communities and groups in discussions about its future.
A spokesman for the
Scout Association said it was "resolute in its commitment to inclusion and
diversity and members continually reflect and challenge ourselves in how we
live our values".
"We look
forward to discussing this matter with the council to make an informed decision
on what happens next," he said.
On
Sunday, protesters at an anti-racism demonstration in Bristol tore down a
statue of the slave trader Edward Colston and
dumped it in the city's harbour.
§
Robert Baden Powell was born in London on 22 February 1857
§
He was in the Army where he specialised in scouting, map-making
and reconnaissance, and trained the other soldiers in essential skills
§
Returning home in 1903 he found the small handbook he had
written for soldiers, Aids to Scouting, was being used by youth leaders and
teachers
§
He was asked by the Boys' Brigade group's founder Sir William
Smith to devise a scheme to improve citizenship training for boys
§
On 1 August 1907 he took 20 boys to Brownsea Island on an
experimental camp which became the start of the Scouts movement
§
He retired from the Army in 1910 to devote his life to the
Scouts, travelling the world to inspire more young people to join scouting
FROM https: .bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset
No comments