Emily Dawes tweeted this image of The Rothenstein Mural, which she aimed to take down

The president of a student union at one of Britain’s leading universities has apologised after saying that she wished to paint over a 100-year-old picture commemorating the fallen in the First World War because it contained white men.

Emily Dawes, who is running the University of Southampton students’ union during a break from her astrophysics degree, declared that she would take down the 10ft by 4ft work that hangs in a meeting room on the university’s Highfield campus.

Ms Dawes, who is white, was attending an event that was part of Black History Month when she wrote: “Mark my words — we’re taking down the mural of white men in the uni Senate room, even if I have to paint over it myself.”

The event