Current demonstrations in sympathy with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement have found an unfortunate focus in the many statues of famous figures from our past.

As I write, a demonstration in London today has prompted the boxing in of the statue of Churchill in Parliament Square, and a comment from his granddaughter that maybe the statue might have to be permanently moved to a museum.

I have no wish to deny that Churchill held views which are unpalatable. Nonetheless, his greatest achievement was his leadership of the nation during the second world war against march of Hitler’s armies. Without that leadership, I think it is fair to say that Britain would not have emerged from the war as a free and democratic nation, and the freedom of other neighbouring countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands would also have been questionable.

At his best, Churchill motivated and focused the British spirit at the height of the European conflict. He did have feet of clay though, but is that enough reason to erase his image from public view? I hope not.

Very few people in history can be said to have completely risen above the ‘human condition’. Mother Theresa is the example often quoted. Should our public spaces only be filled with images of her?

Many attempts are made to try and repair the damage of the past. Formal apologies by governments or national leaders, reparations and the like have been tried. How far back do you go in history?

Shouldn’t the focus be on learning the lessons of history rather than trying to rewrite it? I went to a Grammar School but even there back then history was regarded as a dry subject that nobody really wanted to take. Having to learn lists of dates didn’t help either.

History is part of education, and learning helps mankind become better and avoid the mistakes of the past. We cannot change what has happened in the past, but we can change ourselves and our attitudes. ‘All Lives Matter’ should be the slogan; anything less promotes exclusivity somewhere in the chain, and that is a recipe for unrest and disaster.