The government’s rhetoric over statues and our history does us all a disservice

We need an open debate about where we have come from and where we are headed, writes Chris Stevenson

The statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol was removed and thrown into the city’s harbour last year (Reuters)

We have returned to the front lines of the “culture wars” with the communities secretary, Robert Jenrick, writing in The Sunday Telegraph about the need to protect statues from the threat of “baying mobs”.

Proposed new laws would require planning permission for any changes and a minister would be given the final veto. The complete plans are set to be unveiled in parliament this week. 

The argument over whether the UK should look to edit its history (which has been debated for years) reached its height last year in the wake of the toppling of a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston.