Removal of Scouts founder’s statue delayed as locals rally to protect it

The memorial to 'Nazi sympathiser' Robert Baden-Powell is on a statue-targeting hit list.

A council has delayed the removal of a statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell, as residents vowed to protect it from protesters.

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council had announced that the statue of the founder of Baden-Powell – in Poole Quay, Dorset – would be temporarily taken down after it was put on a target list of statues to be toppled.

However, the planned removal has been delayed after the council realised the operation would require uprooting its deep foundations and heavy-lifting equipment. The authority also announced it would be providing the statue with 24-hour security.

Campaigners had highlighted Baden-Powell’s associations with the Nazis and the Hitler youth programme, as well as his actions in the military.

Council leader Vikki Slade tweeted the decision to remove it was taken following a ‘threat’, adding: ’It’s literally less than 3m from the sea so is at huge risk.’

A crowd of local residents had gathered around the statue earlier today, vowing to protect it and to stop the council from removing it – while also launching a petition to save it.

Mark Howell, the local authority’s deputy leader, said the statue would only be removed to protect it, with the aim of it permanently remaining in its position overlooking Brownsea Island where Baden-Powell held his first experimental camp in 1907.

He said: ‘In terms of its long-term future, this statue stays here, Baden-Powell did an enormous amount of good, he created an organisation that brought people from different religions, ethnic backgrounds and races together.’

Mr Howell added: ‘We know that local people feel proud of Lord Baden-Powell’s and the Scout Movement’s links with Poole, and that some people feel that we would be giving in to the protesters by temporarily removing the statue.

‘However, we feel it is responsible to protect it for future generations to enjoy and respect.

‘We will not be removing the statue today as the foundations are deeper than originally envisaged and we need further discussions with contractors on the best way to remove it safely.

‘Although we cannot say when any temporary removal may take place, we will be providing 24-hour security until it is either removed or the threat diminishes.’

The target list emerged following a raft of Black Lives Matter protests across the UK, sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody in the US city of Minneapolis last month.

Demonstrators toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol on Sunday, sparking calls for other memorials considered to be linked to racism to be torn down. 

Len Banister, 78, a former scout, said of the Baden-Powell statue: ‘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.’

Rover Scouts Matthew Trott and Christopher Arthur travelled from Cwmbran, Wales, to express their support for the statue.

Mr Trott, 28, said: ‘He is my hero. I’d rather see the statue placed in a box in a warehouse for the moment rather than at the bottom of the harbour.’

The Scouts said in a statement: ‘We look forward to discussing this matter with Poole Council to make an informed decision on what happens next.

‘Baden-Powell was the founder of the Scout movement. Currently there are over 54 million Scouts in the world and we operate in almost every nation on earth, promoting tolerance and global solidarity.’

Concerns were raised over Lord Baden-Powell’s ‘Nazi sympathies’, when in 2010 declassified MI5 files revealed he was invited to meet Adolf Hitler after holding friendly talks about forming closer ties with the Hitler Youth. 

He wrote in his diary of 1939: ‘Lay up all day. Read Mein Kampf. A wonderful book, with good ideas on education, health, propaganda, organisation etc.’

Historians have also branded him racist and homophobic.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Nigel Farage quits LBC radio show amid anger over Black Lives Matter comments