Brits are not ‘discerning about which statues they try to rip down’: Latham

The Australian Financial Review’s Aaron Patrick says there is an argument “we’ve put up statues of the wrong people” and as a society it is worth reviewing the “historical context that these went up”.

Statues of historical figures across the globe have been destroyed in the wake of the growing Black Lives Matter movement with monuments of slave traders, and influential people, such as Christopher Columbus and even Winston Churchill, suffering at the hands of protesters.

Mr Patrick said he did not agree with protesters targeting statues of Captain James Cook but overseas there are historical figures who are “far more questionable” like Belgian King Leopold and Cecil Rhodes who “was a white supremacist”.

He suggested reviewing the statues erected for some historical figures and “perhaps thinking maybe times have moved on and it’s time to put other heroes up on those plinths”.

NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham told Sky News host Sharri Markson protesters and rioters in Britain are not “very discerning about who they’re trying to rip down” given some have targeted Winston Churchill’s monument labelling him a racist.

Image: AP