There are fears that statues of Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi in the UK could be toppled after both were named in a Welsh government report reviewing historical figures as “complicit” in colonialism and slavery.

The report said that “many reputations have been brought into question” and “there is a need to assess the culpability or otherwise of individuals who are publicly commemorated and celebrated”. This comes amid Black Lives Matter protests, and brings into question the reputation of the former wartime Prime Minister Churchill and civil rights leader Gandhi. Churchill, who has two buildings and 15 streets named in his honour, has been found to be “widely hated in South Wales mining communities for his actions as Home Secretary during the Tonypandy riots”, the report said.