Lewes MP, Norman Baker, has written to the Greater London Authority to request that the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square be dedicated to Thomas Paine, a former resident of Lewes whose best-known work was his essay, 'The Rights of Man'.
As patron of the Headstrong Club, a debating society of which Thomas Paine himself was a member, Norman has asked that this commemoration take place in 2009 in order to mark the 300th anniversary of Thomas Paine's death.
Norman Baker said:
"I think it is important that Thomas Paine is given the recognition that he so richly deserves. While tributes and memorials to other enlightenment thinkers such as Rousseau, Diderot, Hobbes and Locke are commonplace, Thomas Paine is a figure who has been neglected for too long. His best known work, 'The Rights of Man' is a key enlightenment text and I strongly feel that dedicating a plinth in Trafalgar Square would be a fitting memorial to someone who espoused democratic and radical values still all too relevant today."
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