The parish-pump issue of whether the people of Derby can have a statue replaced is growing into a national controversy.

Once more the reason for this escalation of what should be a local matter is the insistence of a British city council enforcing a politically correct decision in defiance of what the voters actually want.

Offensive to Islamic religion

Residents surrounding Derby’s arboretum are demanding the reinstatement of a historic statue of a boar in the park as part of the park’s £5.6 M restoration project. Local anger is growing following the decision to abandon plans for its reinstatement because a small number of Muslims had complained it was offensive. The Muslims on the council’s Ethnic Minorities Communities Advisory Committee suggest it should be placed elsewhere. Hundreds of signatures have been collected on a petition to demand the Florentine Boar is returned to its original location.

Local people acknowledge that not all the city’s Muslims are opposed to the statue. Derby’s “Evening Telegraph” report:

Petitioner Peter Fitzmaurice (63), of Loudon Street, said: “I’ve been quite surprised by the response - even Muslims have been ringing me up saying they agree with me. “It’s nothing against Muslims, but this is part of the original park and it’s part of the city’s heritage. Muslims have to learn to live with us, just as we have to learn to live with them.”

Josephine Rooney, of Hartington Street, has also been collecting signatures for the petition. She said: “Our politicians have let us down by taking sides. I’m certainly not against Muslims, but they have to respect our rights. It’s only a small percentage of Muslims who are objecting to this and it puts the rest of them in a bad light.”

BNP backs the boar campaign

The local BNP unit in Derby has assisted in the campaign to get the boar back to the park. The unit has leafleted properties in the Arboretum area to publicise its opposition to proposals to site the boar elsewhere.

The leaflet states: “The boar has been in Derby far longer than those who re objecting to its presence and the vast majority of British people want it to be re-instated at the Arboretum.

“The Lib Dems are simply bending over backwards to appease Muslims whilst putting two fingers up to the majority of British people.

“The BNP says bring back the boar. It is part of our culture and heritage.

“The BNP are the only party that are standing up to this politically correct outrage.”

Place in Derby’s heritage

The original Arboretum Boar was sculpted by William John Coffee in 1806 from drawing’s of a 1612 version by the Italian artist Pietro Tacca. In 1840 wealthy Derby businessman, Joseph Strutt, bequeathed his land to the people of Derby, possibly making the Arboretum the oldest public park in the UK. The boar stood on a plinth in the park until it was damaged in a bomb raid in the Second World War in 1942.

The Boar Statue has become very much a part of the Arboretum’s cultural history, heritage and folklore.

According to old Derby folklore (probably a bit of fun to entertain the children), it was said that when the Midland Railway Siren sounded, the Boar would leave its plinth and go for a drink at the fountain. Nannies used to warn their young charges that if they misbehaved in the Arboretum the Boar would get them. Children would often give the Boar a wide berth as they crept by very quietly so as not to disturb him.