A professor who led a review of Edinburgh's ties to the slave trade has said a group 'exploiting loopholes' in the planning system in an attempt to remove a new plaque installed at a controversial monument has "no evidence" to support its case.
Sir Geoff Palmer dismissed claims made by the 'Melville Monument Committee' that the re-worded inscription at the foot of the 150 ft memorial to Henry Dundas in St Andrew Square is "inappropriate and does not provide a factual description".
The plaque, commissioned by the council after the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement re-sparked a debate about Dundas and Edinburgh's colonial past, was changed to state the former home secretary was a "contentious figure" who was "instrumental" in deferring abolition of the slave trade for a generation in the late 18th century.
