Labour peer calls for removal of Clive of India statue from outside Foreign Office

Thangam Debbonaire said the statue of Robert Clive lacked context and ‘honesty about the impact of colonial rule on India’. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A prominent Labour peer has called for a statue of Clive of India to be removed from its high-profile spot outside the Foreign Office in London, arguing that visiting Indian citizens and dignitaries should not be forced to walk past it.

Thangam Debbonaire said the statue commemorating Robert Clive’s bloody establishment of British rule presented the UK in a poor light and was historically inaccurate.