BRITISH people are generally proud of their country’s role in colonialism and the British empire, according to a new poll commissioned by YouGov.
The poll found that 44% were proud of Britain’s history of colonialism. Meanwhile, a mere 21% regretted that it happened. Some 23% agreed with neither opinion.
While 50% of Ukip voters and 37% of Conservative voters say Britain tends to view our history of colonisation too negatively – we talk too much about the cruelty and racism of Empire and ignore its great achievements.
Young people (40%) and Labour voters (43%), on the other hand, are more likely to say we view our colonial history too positively and do not discuss its cruelty enough.
Britain used to govern a fifth of the world’s population and a quarter of all total land area on the planet. At the height of its power, that came to a staggering 458 million people and 13,000,000 square miles.
The Empire’s most famous atrocities include slave trading, widespread famines, massacres of civilians and the use of brutal concentration camps to control occupied territories.
David Cameron has previously commented that there is a lot to be “celebrated” about the empire. During a visit to India in 2013, he commented “I think there is an enormous amount to be proud of in what the British Empire did and was responsible for.
“But of course there were bad events as well as good events. The bad events we should learn from and the good events we should celebrate.”
The new findings come amid calls for a statue of famed Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes to be removed from Oxford University, as critics claim that its presence proves that the university is “institutionally racist”.
An Oxford Union vote on Tuesday night resulted in 245 ayes and 212 noes for removing the statue.
The poll found that 59% of Brits think that the statue of Rhodes should remain in place.
