Parliament Square’s Sir Winston Churchill statue is officially unclimbable in the eyes of the law.
Erected 52 years ago by the ex-prime minister‘s widow, this 12-foot bronze monument attracts all sorts of attention – some not so good, and so the UK government has now decided that offenders may not only be fined £1,000, but also face up to three months’ jail time if they’re caught violating it.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said on the matter (via The Sun): “As the country comes together to celebrate VE Day, it is only right that we ensure Winston Churchill’s statue is treated with the respect it deserves, along with the other sacred war memorials around our country.”
This new protective law joins an active movement to severely penalise climbing on certain UK war memorials. The Cenotaph of Whitehall and Hyde Park’s Royal Artillery Memorial will also fall under it.
“Sir Winston Churchill stands at the summit of our country’s greatest heroes, and has been an inspiration to every prime minister that has followed him,” commented current prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
“The justifiable fury that is provoked when people use his statue as a platform for their protests speaks to the deep and enduring love that all decent British people have for Sir Winston. It is the least we owe him, and the rest of the greatest generation, to make those acts criminal.”
Just weeks ago, trans rights campaigners used the statue as a platform to wave placards in light of the Supreme Court’s controversial definition of women ruling.
For now though, it’s only the demonstrators that cause criminal damage to Churchill’s likeliness who can face prosecution.