But the plans were left in disarray after it emerged last night that the removal of the statue would be blocked because it is part of a Grade II* listed building and identified by Historic England as being of particular historical interest. A senior source at Historic England, which will have a lead role in the request to remove the statue, told The Daily Telegraph: "We will not take into account any moral values at all when making a decision on whether to remove the statue or not. What happened in history is behind us.