Leader committed to listen to local views.

Blackburn with Darwen’s Council Leader, Mohammed Khan OBE, has committed to listen to local views about statues and street names in the borough in response to the Black Lives Matter campaign.

He plans to raise it with the  Our Community Our Future  which focuses on social integration in the borough.

Councillor Mohammed Khan OBE, leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, who also chairs the OCOF board, said:

We support all peaceful and safe protest and campaigns. It’s vital that we listen to what is important to the communities we serve. We would only make changes to statues and street names after taking time to do a careful review and take on board people’s views.

We want to celebrate all that’s best about both Blackburn and Darwen in a campaign focusing on our diversity and strengths. We can build in the stories behind our various statues, choice of street names and historical plaques into these plans. When it comes to racism and inequality it would be essential to fully acknowledge our past, warts and all, as part of efforts to learn lessons from our borough’s history.