OXFORD University's chancellor has claimed there is 'hypocrisy' among the critics of Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College.
Lord Patten spoke live on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the renewed campaign calling on the college to pull down the monument of the imperialist and South African politician, based on the accusations he was a racist.
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He said: "It should be taken seriously and there should be a proper and engaged argument.
"I hope it isn't an argument about symbols and so on, which doesn't avoid an argument about far more fundamental issues which touch on Black Lives Matter, like education, like public housing, like public health."
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Lord Patten said the fate of the statue was a matter for Oriel College, and claimed there was "hypocrisy" among critics of the statue who had also benefited from Rhodes scholarships.
"For me there is a bit of hypocrisy ... in Oxford taking money for 100 scholars a year, about a fifth of them from Africa, to come to Oxford, and then saying we want to throw the Rhodes statue ... in the Thames."
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