'I will fight them off': Furious Poole locals demand statue of Robert Baden-Powell stays after activists target monument to Scouts founder

Ewan Somerville11 June 2020

Locals in Poole have vowed to “fight” to keep the statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell standing after the council said it would be brought down.

Residents staged a protest this morning in front of the monument on the town's quay after campaigners demanded it be removed due to Baden-Powell's associations with the Nazis and his actions in the military.

Anti-racism activists have drawn up a hit list of 78 statues and street names across the UK that they want removed.

It comes after Black Lives Matter protesters toppled a figure honouring Edward Colston, the 17th century slave owner, in Bristol and dumped it in a harbour.

Campaign group “Topple the Racists” reportedly said the Poole Quay statue of Baden-Powell should be removed because of his “documented homophobia, racism and enthusiastic support of Hitler”.

Locals gathered to defend the statue on Poole Quay
PA

In response to the campaign, Vikki Slade, leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, said that the statue will be removed and placed in "safe storage" while "views are aired".

She also tweeted that the decision to remove the it was taken following a “threat”, adding: “It’s literally less than 3m from the sea so is at huge risk."

But today a number of locals were adamant that the figure should remain, branding calls to remove it “ridiculous”.

Some 7,500 people have also signed a petition to save the statue, calling it "an asset to not only local history, but worldwide history".

Locals vowed to fight for the statue
Getty Images

“He is the reason I am still here, the pleasure he gives to so many people, they shouldn’t take it down, I will fight them off,” Len Banister, 78, a former Scout, said.

Spencer Tuck, 35, said: “Unfortunately he was in fascist times but there is more to it and this statue is nothing to do with racism, it’s to do with the heritage of Poole.”

Another held up a placard next to the statue reading "British history matters". When asked whether the monument's presence was problematic, another local told Sky News: “No problem at all. So what are they going to do, take the Pyramids down and the Colosseum?”

Baden-Powell founded the Scouts in 1910 after writing the best-selling book Aids to Scouting while he was in the British Army.

However, biographers have claimed that Baden-Powell was an enthusiastic Nazi sympathiser, who called Mein Kampf "a wonderful book".

The statue was installed in 2008 and faces Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour.

It is the latest flashpoint amid growing calls to bring down statues of historical figures with ties to colonialism, slavery and racism, following worldwide outrage over the death of George Floyd in US police custody last month.

Monuments for slave traders Edward Colston in Bristol and Robert Milligan, in London’s Docklands, have already been removed.

While Liverpool University has promised to rename a university halls of residence named after former Liberal Prime Minister William Gladstone in response to student uproar over his family links to slavery.

Mark Howell, deputy leader of Poole Council, said the council is “considering whether we should remove” the statue, but insisted it would only be a “temporary” move.

The Scouts said in a statement that they “look forward to discussing this matter with Poole Council to make an informed decision on what happens next”.

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