Cecil Rhodes statue to remain at Oxford University

Oxford University will not remove a statue of British colonialist Cecil Rhodes from outside a college building.

The decision comes after a campaign calling for Oriel College to get rid of the statute, which student activists said represented racism and oppression.

A petition by campaign group Rhodes Must Fall gained more than 2,000 signatures, with counter-group History Must Stand gathering a similar number after the college consulted on whether to keep the statute.

Rhodes served as prime minister of the British Empire's Cape Colony, including South Africa, in the early 1890s and has been linked to apartheid-style policies.

Last year the University of Cape Town removed a similar statue following a student protest.

A spokesman for Oriel College said the presence of the statue was "an important reminder of the complexity of history and of the legacies of colonialism still felt today".

"The overwhelming message we have received has been in support of the statue remaining in place, for a variety of reasons," the spokesman said.

"The college's governing body has decided that the statue should remain in place and that the college will seek to provide a clear historical context to explain why it is there."

The Daily Telegraph claimed a leaked report suggested the college could face making redundancies and an operating loss as alumni had threatened to pull donations and legacies over the row, but the spokesman said that was "categorically not true".

Rhodes was a student at Oxford and a member of Oriel College in the 1870s. He left money to the college on his death in 1902.

A scholarship programme in his name has so far been awarded to more than 8,000 overseas students.

However, the college has distanced itself from his views, saying his "values and world view stand in absolute contrast to the ethos of the Scholarship programme today, and to the values of a modern university."