The Boer War statue at Highbury Corner

• IT is laudable that the Sir John Cass Foundation business school is changing its name as despite his claims for public benevolence he had substantial financial links to the slave trade.

Oriel College Oxford is considering the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes a major beneficiary of Britain’s imperial rule in Africa.

The Tribune also mentioned, in a report, that Islington Council is conducting a review of the Boer War statue in Highbury Fields, (Heritage review begins into borough’s street names to make sure none honour slave trade, June 12).

When I was Labour candidate for Highbury East in the 2002 local elections against the incumbent Lib Dem administration, I added my voice for the improvement of what was, at the time, a weed-strewn and rather neglected eye-sore.

To the council’s credit it has now become somewhat more presentable. This Grade II- listed heritage site, of architectural and historic interest, might soon become a bone of contention.

Is it now to become nothing more than a reminder of social injustice and colonial imperialism? Or is there any merit left in considering that this statue, funded by popular subscription and commemorating 110 local residents who lost their lives in service of their country, however naive or pathetic, should in some way be conserved?

TIM CLARK
Pentonville Road, N1