Battle ahead over Mandela statue

A new row is set to break out over plans to erect a statue of Nelson Mandela in Trafalgar Square.

Westminster council is tomorrow expected to reject amended proposals to honour the anti-apartheid leader. Last year its public art panel said the 9ft bronze was of insufficient artistic merit to be sited in front of the National Gallery.

This prompted its backers, led by Mayor Ken Livingstone, to offer to move it 30 yards east, opposite St Martin-in-the-Fields Church but still within the confines of the square.

However, that compromise is also set to be rejected by the council's planning committee. Backed by English Heritage, it wants a ban on any statue being placed on the pedestrianised North Terrace to protect views of the gallery and church and prevent interference with the flow of pedestrians.

A report to the committee states: "The statue would compromise the setting of this Grade I listed building and those of the National Gallery and structures in and around the square. It would fail to preserve or enhance the character or appearance of either this Grade I registered square or the conservation area."

A rejection is bound to inflame Mr Livingstone, who has already been reported to - and cleared by - the local government watchdog after he claimed some Westminster councillors opposed to the plans wore "Hang Mandela" T-shirts in their youth. It would also force a public inquiry, leaving the final decision on the statue in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.

The project, backed by Tony Blair, Lib-Dem leader Charles Kennedy and former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, was devised by Donald Woods, the late South African newspaper editor and anti-apartheid campaigner. After his death in 2002, it was taken on by his widow Wendy, film director Lord Attenborough and Mr Livingstone.

Mr Woods wanted to erect the statue "as a salute from the people of Britain to the liberated people of South Africa". Trafalgar Square was the site of a vigil during Mr Mandela's incarceration and where he famously addressed crowds of supporters on his release.

Sculptor Ian Walters was commissioned, and he flew to Mr Mandela's home in South Africa. The former ANC leader sat for him for nine hours - the longest time he has given an artist.

In a personal plea to the committee, Mr Walters said allowing a Mandela statue in Trafalgar Square - with its many links to Britain's imperial past - would show the country had embraced multiculturalism. "The North Terrace is the most fitting place in which this statue can express the universal recognition of Mandela's great humanity," he said.

The council wants the statue placed beside South Africa House, technically outside the square.