00:00The government is set to make it a crime to climb on Winston Churchill's statue in Parliament Square
00:07as part of a wider move to protect key national monuments.
00:12Under new legislation, anyone caught climbing the statue could face up to three months in prison or a £1,000 fine.
00:21Although the statue isn't officially listed as a war memorial,
00:23Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has now announced plans to include it among protected sites under the Crime and Policing Bill currently going through Parliament.
00:35It will join landmarks like the Cenotaph in Whitehall, the Royal Artillery Memorial in Hyde Park,
00:42all of which honour the UK's armed forces.
00:46Yvette Cooper said the change was fitting and marks VE Day
00:50and that Churchill's statue deserves the same respect that other war memorials have across the country.
00:58Churchill is believed to have personally chosen the statue's location at Parliament Square
01:03during the redevelopment of the square in the 1950s.
01:07The 12-foot bronze figure was unveiled in 1973 by his widow Clementine
01:12in a ceremony attended by Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen's mother.
01:17Backing this move, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Churchill one of the country's greatest heroes.
01:25The statue has often been a target for demonstrators in recent years,
01:29prompting calls for both protection and wider calls on Churchill's legacy.
01:34Under the new law, that debate may continue,
01:36but climbing on the statue could now land you in court and potentially in jail.
Be the first to comment