Search questions

• Reference: 2020/4067
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 19 November 2020

Given that Historic England - the statutory advisor to central and local government on heritage proposals - has clearly stated its position that contested statues should not be removed, can the Mayor provide assurance that the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will abide by that guidance and not recommend the removal of any statues?

• Reference: 2020/4068
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 19 November 2020

Further to that same guidance from Historic England, can the Mayor confirm that he would follow it and not support the removal of the statues of Thomas Guy and Sir Robert Clayton from Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospitals?

• Reference: 2020/4070
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 19 November 2020

Your press release of 28 July 2020, announces the formation of a ‘Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm.’ What do you understand to be the meaning of the term ‘public realm’ - most specifically in the context of private property, non-public spaces and government-owned land?

• Reference: 2020/4071
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 19 November 2020

In your press release of 28 July 2020 you state: ‘The Mayor is creating the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm to help ensure London’s achievements and diversity are suitably reflected. Statues, plaques and street names largely reflect Victorian Britain…’ As a statement of fact, it is demonstrably untrue that London’s statues, plaques and street names largely reflect Victorian Britain, a period of only 60 years. London has a well-documented commemorative and location-naming timeline of at least a thousand years, which also stretches long beyond the Victorian era. Why would you suggest otherwise?

• Reference: 2020/2916
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

I note Haringey Borough Council are setting in hand the removal of the name of Rhodes from Rhodes Avenue Primary School - even though it was named after the philanthropist Thomas Rhodes, the great-uncle of Cecil Rhodes, the person who donated the land for the school, which today would cost tens of millions, who had no historical links to colonialism. Is this development a harbinger of the kind of decision-making we can expect from your Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm?

• Reference: 2020/2931
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

At the top of Pall Mall stands Sir Thomas Brock’s Victoria Memorial which features a resplendent seated figure of the Queen Empress. Given that memorial’s overt celebration of the mother figure of the British Empire and imperial might, do you think it should be removed?

• Reference: 2020/2932
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Can the Mayor tell us what the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm will cost the public purse?

• Reference: 2020/2933
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Will the members of the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm be paid and if so, how much?

• Reference: 2020/2934
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

Will the members of the Commission have the status of public appointees? ie on what terms?

• Reference: 2020/2935
• Question by: Peter Whittle
• Meeting date: 17 September 2020

How are the individuals who will comprise the Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm be selected?