...after all, there is a statue to him

As a target for campaigners protesting the celebration of slave traders. Tony Hancock would be an unlikely candidate.

But that didn't stop Birmingham city council including the comedian in a list of subjects that could have links with colonialism.

He was investigated as part on internal review of the city's public art conduced in 2020 in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, The Times reveals today.

The report looked into whether anyone celebrated in the city's statues had 'links with the transatlantic slave trade or colonialism' - and a bronze likeness of the glum comic sits in  Old Square, in the city centre, depicting him in his signature Homburg hat drinking a cup of tea.

Experts concluded Hancock was 'low-risk' of falling foul of protests, but did comment   that there was 'some social commentary' connected to him which was 'reflective of the time'. It said this could 'potentially have included content that could now be deemed as outdated' 

The council told The Times: 'This was simply a comment in an internal review about some of the comedian’s material from the 1950s and 1960s.'

Hancock was  born at 41 Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, on May 12,  1924, but within three years his family moved to Bournemouth.

The statue was unveiled by Sir Harry Secombe in 1996, a few yards from where it now sits.
 

Published: 13 May 2023