Overview
- Baroness Debbonaire renewed her demand at the Edinburgh International Book Festival to take down the Robert Clive statue outside the Foreign Office, calling its depiction of ‘subservient Indians’ historically inaccurate and diplomatically harmful.
- James Windsor-Clive, a direct descendant, rejected removal calls in interviews with The Times and GB News as ‘airbrushing our history’ and proposed adding an explanatory plaque to contextualise the monument.
- Downing Street has distanced itself from Baroness Debbonaire’s remarks, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman saying he sees little benefit in removing statues and confirming no plans to de-list or remove the Grade II-listed bronze.
- The statue’s protected listing and the government’s existing 2020 ‘retain and explain’ policy mean any physical removal would face significant legal and procedural hurdles.
- The debate highlights deep divisions among Clive’s descendants, historians and politicians over whether contested colonial-era monuments should be taken down, recontextualised or left in place.