The leader of Glasgow City Council has weighed in on an ongoing debate to rename Glasgow streets that carry the names of slave traders. 

Susan Aitken took to Twitter amid increased calls to rename streets such as Buchanan, Cochrane and Dunlop Street.  

She warned that while she used to be "all for renaming streets", it has since come to her attention that this could be "another form of erasure of Black history". 

Petitions calling for a name-change have sky-rocketed as Black Lives Matters movements have seen rising support. 

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One of the names petitioners want to see changed is Buchanan Street which is named after Andrew Buchanan, who was a tobacco trader and whose family owned slave plantations in Virginia.

However, councillor Aitken said that campaigners such as Professor Emeritus Sir Geoff Palmer and anti-racist organisation CRER led her to believe that we cannot erase this part of history. 

She added: "That is why Glasgow City Council is funding research to give us deeper understanding and response."

Sir Palmer agreed with the councillor's statement and added: "Remove the evidence...remove the deed. Plaques are essential."

READ MORE: 'Take these tobacco lords off the pedestal': Thousands back calls to rename streets named after slave owners

We reported earlier this week that CRER campaigners fear that we "already have a problem with amnesia on Scotland’s role in slavery". 

Instead of simply replacing the names, more should be done to inform and educate people about the individuals in question. 

Activists have since placed alternative names below the plaques of some of Glasgow's streets, including Buchanan Street and Cochrane Street, suggesting they be changed to George Floyd Street and Sheku Bayoh Street respectively.