Home Office accused of teaching civil servants biased Empire history

Home Office accused of teaching civil servants biased Empire history
Prof. Robert Tombs called the course 'crude propaganda' Credit: Warren Allott Photos

UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The Home Office is under fire over a history course on the British Empire, which has been accused by leading historians of being misleading and promoting biased views.

Civil servants are required to take a course focusing on Britain’s colonial past and relocation trends.

Prominent historians have criticized the course content as propaganda of the crudest kind, and claimed it is “full of exaggerations and misconceptions”.

The critics also argue that the course includes critical race theory and implies that white people possess inherent racist biases towards ethnic minorities.

A letter has been written by three leading historians from Cambridge and Oxford to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, warning that the training is lacking intellectual rigor and filled with significant errors.

According to the historians, the training presents Britain’s colonial history as purely “exploitative and prejudicial,” failing to acknowledge any “beneficial and humanitarian” contributions of the Empire and ignoring the significant anti-slavery movement in Britain. 

The letter was authored by three prominent historians, including Prof. Robert Tombs from St John’s College, Cambridge, Prof. David Abulafia of Gonville and Caius College, and Prof. Lawrence Goldman, emeritus fellow at St Peter’s College, Oxford.

As reported by The Telegraph, historians became aware of the course when a worried civil servant reached out to their group, History Reclaimed. He expressed concerns about its perceived bias and inaccurate content.

In their letter, the historians argue that the course inaccurately suggests Britain’s economic advancement since the 18th century was solely driven by slavery and imperialism.

The trio stated in the letter, “There seems to be no mention of the Industrial Revolution and the real sources of British wealth: the coal, iron, engineering, textile and shipbuilding industries, for example.”

It continued,

“Nor is there any discussion of the ways in which British technological, medical and scientific developments transformed the modern world, making it possible to sustain billions of people at much higher standards of living than at any time in history.”

The letter points out significant factual mistakes in the course and urges that if British history is to be taught to Home Office civil servants, it should be done by experts, not activists, and also stressed the importance of accuracy and unbiased information. The historians called the current course a “disgrace” to the Home Office. 

Mr Tomp criticized the course as a form of crude propaganda. 

The course was introduced in February last year and was developed in the wake of the Windrush scandal inquiry, which highlighted signs of organizational racism within the Home Office.

The findings reported that Priti Patel, who was the home secretary at the time, should offer an apology to the Windrush generation for the wrongful treatment of thousands of legal British residents who were mistakenly classified as illegal immigrants.

In response to the inquiry’s suggestions, the Home Office created the history course to focus on civil officer’s training on equitable participation.

According to officials, the course content was developed with recommendations from diverse contributors, like internal colleagues, academics, psychologists, sociologists, behavioural scientists, and external historians.

The general secretary of the Free Speech Union organization, Toby Young stated, “Our public servants should be learning about the glories of Britain’s past, how we exported parliamentary democracy to the Anglosphere and invented the free market system that has done so much to eliminate poverty in the global south.”

The Home Office has also been approached for a response but it refused to respond.

Federica Calabrò

Federica Calabrò is a journalist at Parliament News, She is covering Business and General World News. She is a native of Naples, commenced her career as a teller at Poste Italiane before following her passion for dance. Graduating in classical dance, she showcased her talents with two entertainment companies, enchanting audiences throughout Italy. Presently, Federica serves as the general secretary at the Allianz Bank Financial Advisors financial promotion center in Naples. In this capacity, she manages office forms, provides document assistance for Financial Advisors, oversees paperwork for the back office, and ensures smooth customer reception and assistance at the front office. Outside her professional obligations, Federica indulges in her passion for writing in her leisure time.