London Socialist Historians
Media Release
25th August
Contact Dr Keith Flett 07803 167266
Historians accuse Boris Johnson of hypocrisy over talk of ‘our history’
The London Socialist Historians Group, which organises the socialist history seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, has accused Boris Johnson of hypocrisy over references to British history that he made while commenting on the BBC’s decision to retain Rule Britannia as part of the 2020 Last Night of the Proms.
The Political Editor of the Daily Telegraph Gordon Rayner tweeted on 25th August:
Boris Johnson pulls no punches over Proms row: “I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general fight of self-recrimination and wetness, I wanted to get that off my chest.”
The historians say that Johnson’s words seem to indicate that he believes that all of British history, warts and all, should be discussed and remembered.
However on the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre on 16th August 2019, Johnson managed not one tweet or comment about the event. The peaceful demonstration for the vote in Manchester 200 years ago saw 18 people killed by the Yeomanry and hundreds injured.
LSHG Convenor Dr Keith Flett said, we are certainly in favour of researching and understanding all of British history and that includes the bits Boris Johnson prefers to forget such as the Peterloo Massacre
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