Peter Rhodes on statues, betting and the price of dining without paying the bill
I dare say many people are putting bets on all sorts of aspects of this General Election. Seriously, what would the odds have been on the first full week of campaigning ending with everyone feeling sorry for Diane Abbott?
I noted in this column in February that the proposed statue to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron was unlikely to be erected in Portsmouth because it is “frankly a bit Victorian.” The design shows an heroic British naval officer posing dramatically as one slave shows off his shattered manacles and a female slave crouches in gratitude to her rescuer. I predicted it would be denounced for its “white saviour” imagery.
Sure enough, four months later, the project has hit a snag with the landowners reportedly claiming the statue is not “welcoming and inclusive.” A new site may be found but I suspect that, like Colston's effigy in Bristol, it may well end up in the nearest harbour.
