
Thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the removal of the statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes from Oxford University college.
The protesters spearheading the "Rhodes Must Fall" movement chanted "take it down" and "decolonise" as they clenched their fists in memory of African-American George Floydwho was killed by a policeman in Minneapolis triggering worldwide outrage.
Susan Brown, Oxford city council leader, called for the removal of Cecil Rhodes statue even as local MP Layla Moran said Rhodes a "white supremacist who does not represent the values of Oxford in 2020".
The protests over colonial statueshave takeover over Britain in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing in the US with demonstrators defacing the statue of former BritishPrime Minister Winston Churchill in central London over racism.
The city council had earlier removed the statue of slave trade Robert Milligan from outside the London museum in Docklands district with mayor Sadiq Khan declaring a "review" of monuments.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson sympathising with the protesters said he understood the "depth of emotion", stating,"We who lead and who govern simply can't ignore those feelings because in too many cases, I am afraid, they will be founded on a cold reality." The British prime minister however cautioned against acts of vandalism.
Earlier, protesters had pulled down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston and thrownit in the harbour amid large scale anti-racism demonstration in the southwestern city of Bristol.