Johnson’s speech to Tory Conference 2020: still editing our history
Boris Johnson’s speech to the virtual Tory Conference on 6th October again made reference to British history:
We are proud of this country’s culture and history and traditions; they literally want to pull statues down, to re-write the history of our country, to edit our national CV to make it look more politically correct.
We aren’t embarrassed to sing old songs about how Britannia rules the waves
https://www.conservatives.com/news/boris-johnson-read-the-prime-ministers-keynote-speech-in-full
These of course are at one level yet more throw-away culture wars lines.
Yet Johnson himself has written a fair bit about British history (not just Churchill) and he is very far from above doing his own-editing.
His favourite British historical figure (after Winston) is probably John Wilkes a London Mayor in the late eighteenth century. Wilkes was a libertarian in politics and morals and a member of the Hellfire Club. This is where Johnson gets his freedom loving rhetoric and his propensity to father children from.
Yet Johnson also edits out awkward bits of history himself.
He was Prime Minister on 16th August 2019 the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo Massacre, one of the foundation events of British Parliamentary democracy. The massacre is (to be kind) indirectly linked to the Tory Party and about it Johnson said precisely nothing.
Likewise one will never find Johnson praising the Tolpuddle Martyrs as people who stood up for democracy at work in terms of being able to join a trade union.
He has by contrast noted the radical agenda of the Peasants Revolt (Spirit of London 2012) but that was in 1381..
PM in 2019 not 1819