John Barnes: Watford legend calls for debate on colonial past

John Barnes: "We do not want to jump ahead of ourselves"

A second Watford football legend has raised concerns about renaming streets with links to Britain's colonial past.

John Barnes has followed Luther Blissett in criticising a proposal to rename four roads in the wake of anti-racism protests across the UK.

Barnes told the BBC: "I don't believe tearing down statues or changing names is the answer.

"It's about educating people about what went on in the past - but you have to be balanced."

Watford Borough Council is looking at renaming Rhodes Way, Clive Way, Colonial Way and Imperial Way in order to "reflect forward thinking".

Liverpool's John Barnes backheels a banana that was thrown on to the pitch during a game at Everton in 1988

Labour councillor Asif Khan proposed this week that roads "named after people who were involved in the slave trade, colonisation and oppression" were changed.

He told a council meeting: "The likes of Luther Blissett, Anthony Joshua and John Barnes are just some who have made contributions to our town, but there are many more."

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Barnes joined Watford as a teenager in 1981 and scored 85 goals in 256 games.

He was with the club when he debuted for England in 1983 - before a long career at Liverpool.

The junction of Rhodes Way and Colonial Way in Watford

"When the Black Lives Matter movement started it was about injustice and it snowballed into all kinds of different things," he said.

"There are not many people who feel that the empire was evil. We have to have that discussion, that debate about whether colonialism was right or wrong.

"We're getting too far ahead of ourselves.

"Do we tear down statues of Winston Churchill because he was racially-biased - where do we draw the line?"

He added he had not been consulted by the council about the proposals and renaming a road after him in Watford would only be "tokenism".

Footballer Luther Blissett said changing road names in Watford was "wallpapering over the past"

Blissett, who scored 186 goals in 503 games for Watford, said he "objects" to the idea - describing it as "wallpapering over the past".

Barnes added: "Being balanced about what went on in the past is important and until that debate and discourse happens we cannot suddenly decide these things are changed.

"If you really want to help disenfranchised people, spend more money on the inner cities, education, jobs and housing."