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Boris Johnson criticises ‘shameful’ vandalism of statues

Boris Johnson said that it was “absurd and shameful” that the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was at risk of vandalism and warned: “We cannot edit or censor the past.”

The prime minister, who has written a biography of Churchill, said that he was a “hero” who saved the nation and Europe “from a fascist and racist tyranny”. Mr Johnson added that he “fully deserves his memorial”.

He said that statues “teach us about our past, with all its faults” and that tearing them down would mean lying about the nation’s history.

He urged people to stay away from protests this weekend and hit out at “indiscriminate” acts of violence, describing them as “intolerable” and “abhorrent”.

He intervened as the Churchill Square