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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Nadine White

After a reckoning and the toppling, what is replacing Britain’s symbols of empire?

Composite from top; Statue of Jan Christian Smuts, Lord Clyde, Francis Drake, Robert Milligan and Edward Colston.
Toppled and cast asunder … statues of Jan Christian Smuts, Lord Clyde, Francis Drake, Robert Milligan and Edward Colston. Composite: Getty Images

Hello and welcome to the Cotton Capital newsletter. I’m Nadine White and this month we’re asking: after the toppling, what comes next?

Britain spent much of 2020 arguing about what should come down. Statues of enslavers and colonial figures were toppled, defaced or quietly removed. Edward Colston ended up in Bristol harbour. Robert Milligan was taken down outside London’s Museum of Docklands, while campaigners renewed calls for Cecil Rhodes to come off his plinth at Oriel College, Oxford. But six years on, one of the most persistent battles is still playing out.

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