London mayor Sadiq Khan spent more than £30,000 on boarding up statues in Westminster including one of Winston Churchill, it can be revealed. The monument to the wartime leader was boxed up by Mr Khan after it was daubed with graffiti during Black Lives Matter demonstrations last month. Mr Khan last month defended his actions after Home Secretary Priti Patel accused him of failing to stand up to ‘thuggery’ and demanded the statue be set free. He said the decision to protect the statue in Parliament Square – and the monuments to Mandela and Gandhi – was a ‘wise’ precaution. Mr Khan has previously pointed out that the statues had been boarded up before, including while Mr Johnson was mayor.

Source: Daily Mail July 10, 2020 21:02 UTC