London Socialist Historians Group
Media Release
6th January
Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians say Colston Four Verdict is the revenge of history against Priti Patel
The London Socialist Historians Group which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, has said that the Not Guilty verdict in the trial of the Colston Four in Bristol on January 5th represented the revenge of history against Home Secretary Priti Patel.
Ms Patel reportedly intervened in the matter to urge prosecution of people who admitted to being amongst those responsible for toppling the statue of slaver Edward Colston in central Bristol in June 2020.
The four defendants argued that there was a moral case to remove the Colston statue, long controversial in Bristol, and after hearing the evidence the jury agreed.
Perhaps not surprisingly while the Tory Party claims to be the custodian of British justice, Tory MPs were not slow to criticise the jury decision. Former Minister and Newark MP Robert Jenrick claimed on twitter that the verdict was undermining the rule of law.
Juries have a long history of returning not guilty verdicts when they suspect political interference in a case. E P Thompson’s Making of the English Working Class details examples going back two hundred years.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, while the Tories go on about the ‘rule of law’ when a jury brings in a verdict they don’t like their reaction is not to accept it but to think of ways to undermine the jury system. No doubt this is on Priti Patel’s agenda. The Bristol jury have shown that they had a better grasp of what democracy is than the Home Secretary
Yes Keith. It is also worth recording that LSHG’s Bristol Companeros: Bristol Radical History Group provided most of the research which informed opinion in the city about the slavers.