Remembering Colonisation

The contested memory of colonisation plays a key role in the culture wars that are currently engulfing British politics. In response to the increasing historiographical and societal challenge to the glorification of the British Empire, prominent right-wing politicians have long claimed that the empire is portrayed unfairly. In 2002, Boris Johnson stated that we should celebrate our imperial history, and that “The problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge anymore”. More recently, Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf has said pupils under a Reform government will be taught that the empire did more good than bad, while Kemi Badenoch has said she is “proud” of the empire. 

This is underpinned by historians like Nigel Biggar who, particularly in context of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, stresses the mixed good and bad elements of the empire, and that it was not ‘essentially’ racist, violent, or exploitative. However, these arguments whitewash widespread colonial atrocities, and by doing so, fail to acknowledge how the ‘good’ of empire only applied to certain people, and that the bad overwhelmingly outweighed the good in any event. This culture war narrative thus actively seeks to manipulate historical memory. 

This is not a new phenomenon; it has deep historical roots in Operation Legacy – a campaign of mass concealment and destruction of documents at the time of decolonisation. Millions of documents were hidden, thrown out to sea, and burnt. This was only uncovered in 2011, as part of a High Court case involving claimants seeking compensation for colonial abuse and torture in the brutal British suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion. As a result, a wider range of colonial atrocities were exposed, with many more clearly lost to history. 

The exposure of these atrocities, as well as the long-term attempt to cover them up, help to undermine the narrative that we should be proud of our colonial past. If this was the case, why would officials have conspired to both destroy and hide these documents? The present-day weaponisation of British colonialism in the culture wars can thus be seen as a natural progression of the goals of Operation Legacy, to avoid a collective reckoning with our colonial past. 

This historical legacy enables the use of imperial nostalgia as a political tool. It invokes an image of past superiority and power to illustrate a perceived decline of the nation. This then mobilisespolitical support for a so-called revival of national strength. Brexit is a key example that illustrates the power of imperial nostalgia. Sathnam Sanghera argues that Brexiteers, both consciously and unconsciously, yearned for a rebirth of the empire. This stemmed from and utilised a feeling of demotion that came with being part of the European Economic Community (EEC) and later the European Union (EU). 

These European ties were perceived as a stark contrast to the UK’s past independence as a major imperial power. Utilising a yearning for past imperial power, or an increased presence on the world stage, and linking this to economic grievances and a feeling of being left behind, thus proved a potent political weapon, contributing to the Leave campaign’s victory. 

The continued success of culture war weaponisation of colonialism and its erasure of historical memory in part owes to the failings of our education system. A 2025 YouGov poll suggested that 33% of Britons believed that the empire was more something to be proud of than ashamed, with just 21% believing the contrary. These statistics were backed up by 44% of people saying that they do not know very much or nothing at all about the British Empire. This suggests that there is a long-term failing of the British education system in teaching individuals about the empire.

Young people are by far the most negative about the empire and are the most likely to say they know a great deal about it, illustrating the impact of recent movements like BLM. However, 49% of them still say that they do not know very much or nothing at all about the empire. While this lack of knowledge can be partly attributed to Operation Legacy, these statistics do suggest that there is a wider problem. A lack of education about the realities of empire thus increases the potency of imperial nostalgia, with people uninformed about the horrific atrocities committed.

This lack of education enhances the potency of other weapons in the culture wars, such as migration. As a result of the multitude of damaging effects of colonisation on the development and stability of former colonies, many people leave these nations to pursue a better life in the UK. This has aided the development of the British nation, as seen by the Windrush generation helping to rebuild the country after the Second World War. However, Nadine El-Enany argues that immigrants are subject to a racialised system, that discriminates against those who are impacted by colonial legacies.

This can be seen through differing systems for refugees to acquire legal status, or indeed the treatment of the Windrush generation by Theresa May’s government. The current culture war narrative against immigrants, blaming them as the source of the nation’s ills, has contributed to a significant anti-migration view among the population. Yet, in having a lack of education about the empire and colonialism, people are unaware of both how colonial legacies continue to contribute to current patterns of migration, and how migrants from former colonies benefit the nation. 

In conclusion, the politicisation of colonialism in the culture wars has deep historical roots and is widespread today. While it seems unlikely that this politicisation can be eradicated quickly due to its deep-rooted nature, a substantially improved education about the empire would be able to reduce the potency of imperial nostalgia as a political weapon. 

Bibliography:

Anderson, David M., ‘Guilty Secrets: Deceit, Denial, and the Discovery of Kenya’s Migrated Archive’, History Workshop Journal, 80.80 (2015), pp. 142-160.

Biggar, Nigel, ‘In Defence of Empire: my (twice!) cancelled thoughts on the British Empire’, The Biggar Picture, 19 March 2025, https://www.nigelbiggar.co.uk/p/in-defence-of-empire [Accessed 27 March 2026]

Cobain, Ian, The History Thieves: Secrets, Lies and the Shaping of a Modern nation (London: Portobello Books, 2016)

El-Enany, Nadine, Bordering Britain: Law, Race and Empire (Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2020)

Ferguson, Alasdair, ‘Schools will teach students to love Britain if Nigel Farage becomes PM’, The National, 4 May 2025, https://www.thenational.scot/news/25137095.schools-will-teach-students-love-britain-nigel-farage-becomes-pm/ [Accessed 27 March 2026]

Lester, Alan, ‘The British Empire in the Culture War: Nigel Biggar’s Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 51.4 (2023), pp. 763-795. 

Linebaugh, Riley, ‘Colonial Fragility: British Embarrassment and the So-called ‘Migrated Archives’’, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 50.4 (2022), pp. 729-756.

Sanghera, Sathnam, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain (London: Penguin, 2021)

Smith, Matthew, ‘British attitudes to the British Empire’, Yougov, 29 January 2025, https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/51483-british-attitudes-to-the-british-empire [Accessed 27 March 2026]

Stone, Jon, ‘Boris Johnson said colonialism in Africa should never have ended and dismissed Britain’s role in slavery’, The Independent, 13 June 2020, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-colonialism-africa-british-empire-slavery-a9564541.html [Accessed 27 March 2026]

The Westminster Report, ‘I’m proud of the British Empire’ | Kemi Badenoch’, Youtube, 7 October 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pp4UGrXaVc&t=32s [Accessed 27 March 2026]