Ownership of Colston’s statue still not confirmed

Despite ownership of the statue of Edward Colston still not yet ascertained, Bristol’s mayor has said that “in some sense now, it’s irrelevant” with the statue due to be displayed in a museum.

During his fortnightly press conference, Marvin Rees could not be drawn into whether those people involved in pulling down the statue should be prosecuted.

Bristol City Council have provided police with an evidential statement confirming damage was caused to the statue and that nobody was given permission to cause this damage, but have not reported a crime.

Rees did say, however, that he would like to see “a restorative route” so people across Bristol with different views can all feel as if they are being heard.

Question: Has ownership of the Colston statue been ascertained and what role is Rees playing in this police investigation?

Rees: “Ownership has not yet 100 per cent been confirmed… We are open to anyone who wants to come forward and claim ownership, to come forward and claim ownership, but as yet they haven’t.

“But what we were saying, in some sense now, it’s irrelevant. Because the future of the statue is pretty clear. It’s going to be going in a museum…

“In terms of the investigation that’s going on, there has been some misunderstanding of that.

“What we have done as a local authority, we have been asked by the police – who are duty-bound to undertake an investigation because they are the police, they don’t get to choose what to investigate and what not to investigate, politics has to stay out of that, the police have to their job – we’ve been asked to provide a statement.

“We provided a factual account of what happened. nothing more. And the factual account is: we hadn’t asked for the statue to be taken down and it was taken down. The very same things you see on the footage. That’s what we have provided.

“The police have also been clear that we provided a factual account. They do the investigation because that is what they are required to do.

“The decision to whether to prosecute or not is the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service irrespective of whatever we say and they will look at a couple of questions won’t they. Has a crime been committed? And is it in the public interest to prosecute?

“But that’s their decision. We do not cross the line of politics interfering in that process, and neither should we.

“At the same time, what I will share is we have been clear that we think that there is a way of dealing with incidents that have broken the law, and yes there was criminal damage, that is a more restorative route.

“I think that our focus is on building the city and restoring relationships is a route that I would prefer.”

Question: Would you therefore not to want to see any criminal sanctions against those who were involved in what happened to the statue?

“I would frame it in a positive way rather than, ‘what do I not want?’ I would say what I want, what I would prefer, is for the city to go on a restorative route. I think that’s in the city’s best interests.

“The question is not ‘what do we not want to happen?’ but ‘what do we do want to happen?’. And I think that one of our challenges now as a city is to make sure that we are a city for everyone.

“There are some people who are elated at the statue being pulled down. There are some people who sympathise with the statue being pulled down but are dismayed by the way it happened. And there are some people who are really angry about the statue being pulled down; for them, Colston is synonymous with Bristol, they are Bristolians and pulling the statue down is like pulling something of themselves down.

“Wherever you stand across the political spectrum, across those views, we need to build a city for everyone. Part of the city where we are right now is living with difference. Even if people don’t get what they want, they feel respected and they feel it’s a city that values them.

“That’s why I think a restorative route is the route I’d be particularly interested in. But as I said, ultimately the decision is with the CPS and as a politician I don’t think I should be trying to step across the line and influence, but I share my view.”

Main photo: Jon Kent

Read more: New documentary explores global impact of the toppling of Colston’s statue