Policing Minister hopes protesters will be prosecuted over toppling of Colston statue
8 June 2020, 08:41
The Policing Minister has told LBC he'll be speaking to the head of Avon and Somerset Police after officers didn't intervene when a statue of a slave trader was pulled down by protesters in Bristol.
The controversial statue of slave trader Edward Colston was torn down by Black Lives Matter protesters and thrown into Bristol Harbour during yesterday's demonstrations.
Nick asked Policing Minister Kit Malthouse why police didn't act and he said he would be speaking to the Commissioner of the force.
He said: "They have difficult operational decisions to make and that's what they're doing.
"I have a call with him this morning. We'll be reviewing the situation.
"The way we do things in this country is not like that. What was pretty obvious is that a group showed up with a pre-meditated plan. They had ropes and tools to to remove that particular statue and perpetrate an act that was criminal damage.
"There is an investigation underway. Footage will be reviewed and hopefully prosecutions will follow.
"Whatever the merits or otherwise of that statue being where it was, the way to do these things in this country is by democratic discussion, argument and decision."
Watch his interview at the top of the page.
