MP calls for London Clive statue to be retained

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to ensure that the statue of Robert Clive, the first British governor of Bengal and also a former Shrewsbury MP, to be retained on its plinth in King Charles Street.

Mr Kawczynski has also called for a similar statue to be kept in Shrewsbury town centre, following a petition for it to be removed.

During a session in the Commons, Mr Kawczynski asked Mr Raab for assurances that the Grade II listed bronze statue in London would stay in its place.

Mr Kawczynski said: "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to

ensure the retention of the statue of Sir Clive of India in its location between his Department and HM Treasury."

Mr Raab responded that the Foreign Office was not responsible for the statue, which was in the care of the English Heritage Trust.

Mr Kawczynski said he had met with David Parton, who had organised a petition calling for the Shrewsbury statue to be removed, and they had discussed the matter in a calm and friendly manner.

But the MP said he believed it was important that the statue was kept because it was a reminder of the town's history.

So far, more than 20,000 people have put their names to petitions calling for the statue in The Square to be removed, but nearly 8,000 have backed a counter-petition calling for it to be preserved.

Mr Kawczynski said it was a matter for Shropshire Council to decided on whether to keep or remove the statue, and he would respect whatever decision it made.

But he added: "I believe it needs to be kept for historic purposes. We need to ensure that future generations know the history of the area, and I believe that statues are an important part of that history."

He added that he had received a number of letters from constituents on the matter, with the majority being in favour of keeping the statue in the town.

Clive was born on the Styche Hall estate, near Market Drayton, in 1725 and went to school in London before travelling to India with the East India Company in 1743.

After two years in Britain, in 1755 Clive returned to India and two years later retook Calcutta for the company at the Battle of Plassey, a key moment on Britain's path to controlling Bengal and then India for almost two centuries.

Corruption and looting saw Clive amass a huge amount of wealth and he returned to Britain in 1760, aged 34.

He was made Baron Clive of Passey, knighted and became Shrewsbury's MP, a position he held until his death.

He went back to India in 1765 for two years before returning to Britain where the activities of Clive and the East India Company in India came under sustained attack.

The famine of Bengal that lasted between 1769 and 1773 and killed around a third of the region's population was said to have largely been caused by the company's policies.

Clive defended himself in Parliament, saying "I stand astonished at my own moderation," and in 1773 Parliament declared that he did “render great and meritorious services to his country.”

He died at home in London aged 49 and is believed to have killed himself.