A Labour peer has called for a statue of Clive of India outside the Foreign Office to be torn down because it is 'not helpful' for diplomacy.
Baroness Debbonaire insisted the bronze sculpture was historically inaccurate and risked souring Britain's relationship with India.
But Downing Street distanced itself from her remarks, suggesting the removal of the statue would not achieve anything.
Robert Clive was hailed by some contemporaries for securing 200 years of British rule in India, but his personal enrichment made from plundering the region made him a controversial figure even in his lifetime.
Critics also blame his punishing taxation and land reforms while he was governor of Bengal for the Bengal Famine, which killed ten million in 1770.
