Monday 4 July 2016

Morning Star letter on manipulation of history

As Wednesday`s Star editorial stated, the referendum result came about because of working class communities expressing "their feelings about the Establishment in a roar of anger at the polling booth" (Morning Star,29/06/16). Blaming Corbyn is simply another example of Tories and Blairites passing the buck, especially when they did so little to emphasise the economic benefits brought to this country by immigrants.
    They also failed to counter many ridiculous claims made by the Brexiteers about Britain`s great heritage and history, with the reason for voting to leave the EU given by many as a method for putting the "Great" back in Britain. When so many of us criticised Gove six years ago for insisting on more British history being taught in British schools, little did we realise how important, and how soon, nationalist history would become to so many of the British people. So much of this mythology is swallowed; let`s get some things straight. 
      There is nothing unique about "Britishness", given the number of Europeans who have settled here, from Romans to Romanians, not to mention German royalty.
      Wars have never been won without the aid of allies. Yes, the country bravely stood firm in 1940, but it was never "alone".
     Our Industrial Revolution cannot be described as "great", financed as it was by our slave trade and the looting of colonies, and accompanied by the barbaric treatment of workers, including women and children.
   Even the truth about our so-called "greatest" Briton, is rarely revealed; no surprise that Johnson`s latest "history" book was a biased biography of Churchill.
 The only people who think a "special relationship" exists between Britain and the States are the British; the Americans never mention it.
   No explanation is needed to explain the existence of a secret archive containing 1.2 million files, going back to the end of the Crimean War, hidden from the prying eyes of historians, who might want British history re-written.
    Brexit can be regarded as just desserts for the continued manipulation of history!

 

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