You can’t cancel the past, mate
Conservative MP Sir John Hayes has called for a report into Lincolnshire’s links to slavery to be shredded, saying it is of “no use whatsoever.”
Historic England conducted a report, finding four places in the northern county with a past of slavery, including Burghley House in Stamford and the town of Woodhall Spa.
The report, entitled ‘The Transatlantic Slave Economy and England’s Built Environment: A Research Audit’, was carried out to “retain and explain our heritage,” Historic England said.
“Our job is to focus on facts in an impartial way; we are not making moral judgements.
“By sharing knowledge of England’s history, as told through the fabric of our buildings and sites, our aim is that they become better understood and protected.”
The section of the report on Lincolnshire reveals that Burghley House was owned by the Cecil family, who married into the family of Thomas Chambers, who had “grown rich in the West Indies.”
The other significant location, Woodhall Spa, is reported as being owned by the Hotchkin family, who owned Jamaican slaves.
While a level headed person would see this as a worthwhile that will teach Brits more about our violent past, John Hayes, MP for Lincolnshire since 1997, said: “why on earth spend £15,000 of taxpayers’ money doing it?”
“I first thought it should be shelved, I now think it should be shredded,” he said.
“It has no use whatsoever and it’s indicative of an organisation that needs to be brought to order.
“Of course slavery was awful and of course it was right we abolished it, but I am not sure we need to go through this kind of comprehensive report linking tangentially all kinds of places and buildings to that effort.”
Now seems a good time to bring this JOE interview with Irish group Kneecap, who articulated better than anyone why British people are reluctant to learn about the country’s past. (Skip to 0:43.)
“’Why do Irish people hate British people so much?’ We don’t hate British people. It’s only your government that we hate.” @KNEECAPCEOL answer all the stupid questions that Irish people get asked on the reg. pic.twitter.com/3AIGMeuUm7
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) February 21, 2020
