[Telegraph] Oxford University's chancellor has waded into the black lives matter movement's desire to tear down a statue of Cecil Rhodes, saying if Nelson Mandela was "alright" with the Victorian imperialist then it was good enough for him.Lord Patten said the row over the Rhodes statue should not overshadow a focus on addressing inequality.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I stood along Nelson Mandela at a conference in Westminster Hall with Tony Blair and Bill Clinton in 2003 at which he said how strongly he supported the trust.
"He set up... something called the Mandela-Rhodes Trust to help heal the divisions.
"For all the problems associated with Cecil Rhodes’ history, if it was alright for Mandela, then I have to say it’s pretty well alright with me."
Demonstrators took to the streets of Oxford on Tuesday, which you can see in the video below, to voice their opposition to the Rhodes statue.