Winston Churchill’s picture is REMOVED from Google’s list of British Prime Ministers amid furious row over statue of wartime leader
- Wartime leader’s picture has been removed from Google’s carousel of leaders
- Clement Attlee and Neville Chamberlain’s images still show without issues
- Black Lives Matter protesters have called for his monument to be removed
Winston Churchill’s picture has been removed from Google’s list of British prime ministers as protesters call for his statue to be torn down.
The wartime leader is the only prime minister to be left without a photo.
Clement Attlee, Neville Chamberlain and Stanley Baldwin, who all served before Churchill, have had their images untouched.
It comes amid a swirling row over whether Churchill should be commemorated in parliament square.
Black Lives Matter figurehead Imarn Ayton, 29, who has given speeches alongside Star Wars actor John Boyega, said yesterday the monument is offensive and should be moved to a museum.
And his granddaughter Emma Soames, after seeing the statue daubed with ‘was a racist’, said that if people were ‘so infuriated’ it may be ‘safer’ in a museum.
His image is not showing up in the UK, US, Australia and South Africa, according to social media users.
The disappearance of his picture has been slammed as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘disgusting’.
A request to Google for information on why the image has been removed read: ‘The images on the search results are taken from Wikipedia, it’s not clear to me why this would break in only the UK and the US.
‘It’s especially interesting given the current controversy around Churchill in our countries. Even more interesting is that pictures of Hitler, Stalin and Mao are shown with no issues.’
A platinum product expert for Google responded saying the image appears to be a ‘default’, although it is unclear why Churchill’s is absent.
Ms Ayton, 29, told BBC Radio 4 yesterday: ‘Yes I do. I believe these statues should be moved to a museum I think it’s a win win for everyone.
‘It no longer offends the black nation, but we get to keep our history and keep those that would like to see that.
Asked why Churchill’s statue was offensive, she said: ‘Any statue of people who has spoken negatively towards black people is going to be offensive. Any man.’
Google has been contacted for comment.