• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Yorkshire Bylines
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
    Prime minister PMQ prep

    Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

    The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

    Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

    schools bill

    Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

    Emmanuel Macron

    French parliamentary elections 2022: shockwaves across the Channel

    Rail strikes

    Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

    cost of living march london

    Trade union movement marches to demand better

    European Union

    After the seismic shocks of Brexit and Covid, what next for the European Union?

    Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

    What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

    Refugee Week

    Refugee week: a chance to celebrate refugees

    Trending Tags

    • Johnson
    • Coronavirus
    • Labour
    • Starmer
    • NI Protocol
    • Brexit
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Culture
    • Dance
    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Recipes
    • Sport
    Nostell Priory, Wakefield

    Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

    Headingley Cricket Stadium

    A view from the Roses match: is everything ‘rosey’ in English cricket?

    Bettys' Fat Rascals

    Scallywags, scoundrels and rascals abound in Yorkshire (we do like our scones)

    'Woke' beliefs

    Woke and proud: Compassion must never be allowed to go out of fashion

    Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

    What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

    Red Ladder

    Climbing the Red Ladder – bringing theatre to the community

    Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster

    Kaiser Chiefs never miss a beat in Doncaster

    Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, second from right, is joined by Keighley Creative representatives, from left, Georgina Webster, Jan Smithies and Gemma Hobbs.

    Bradford announced as City of Culture 2025

    Queen cakes fit for a Queen

    Queen Cakes fit for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Sport
  • Business
    • All
    • Economy
    • Technology
    • Trade
    Freya Osment from Northern Gas Networks

    International Women in Engineering Day 2022

    Rail strikes

    Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

    conservative party

    The Conservative Party: fiscally irresponsible and ideologically incapable of addressing the current crises

    Yorkshire cows

    British farmers are being offered a lump sum payment to leave the industry – but at what cost to agriculture?

    cost-of-living-crisis-in-voluntary-sector

    Cost-of-living crisis looming for the voluntary sector

    Money on the floor - £20 notes

    The huge cost of Brexit is being seriously understated

    Financial problems

    Surge in bad debt and late payments indicate mounting business distress in Yorkshire

    An evening photo tour of Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, with excellent light towards sunset.

    Winter blackouts and rationing for six million homes as government plans for disruption to energy supply

    Jar with money cascading out of it

    Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

    Trending Tags

      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
    • Region
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • News
      • All
      • Brexit
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
      Prime minister PMQ prep

      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

      schools bill

      Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

      Emmanuel Macron

      French parliamentary elections 2022: shockwaves across the Channel

      Rail strikes

      Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

      cost of living march london

      Trade union movement marches to demand better

      European Union

      After the seismic shocks of Brexit and Covid, what next for the European Union?

      Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

      What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

      Refugee Week

      Refugee week: a chance to celebrate refugees

      Trending Tags

      • Johnson
      • Coronavirus
      • Labour
      • Starmer
      • NI Protocol
      • Brexit
      • Culture
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Culture
      • Dance
      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Recipes
      • Sport
      Nostell Priory, Wakefield

      Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

      Headingley Cricket Stadium

      A view from the Roses match: is everything ‘rosey’ in English cricket?

      Bettys' Fat Rascals

      Scallywags, scoundrels and rascals abound in Yorkshire (we do like our scones)

      'Woke' beliefs

      Woke and proud: Compassion must never be allowed to go out of fashion

      Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

      What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

      Red Ladder

      Climbing the Red Ladder – bringing theatre to the community

      Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster

      Kaiser Chiefs never miss a beat in Doncaster

      Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, second from right, is joined by Keighley Creative representatives, from left, Georgina Webster, Jan Smithies and Gemma Hobbs.

      Bradford announced as City of Culture 2025

      Queen cakes fit for a Queen

      Queen Cakes fit for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Sport
    • Business
      • All
      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
      Freya Osment from Northern Gas Networks

      International Women in Engineering Day 2022

      Rail strikes

      Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

      conservative party

      The Conservative Party: fiscally irresponsible and ideologically incapable of addressing the current crises

      Yorkshire cows

      British farmers are being offered a lump sum payment to leave the industry – but at what cost to agriculture?

      cost-of-living-crisis-in-voluntary-sector

      Cost-of-living crisis looming for the voluntary sector

      Money on the floor - £20 notes

      The huge cost of Brexit is being seriously understated

      Financial problems

      Surge in bad debt and late payments indicate mounting business distress in Yorkshire

      An evening photo tour of Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, with excellent light towards sunset.

      Winter blackouts and rationing for six million homes as government plans for disruption to energy supply

      Jar with money cascading out of it

      Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

      Trending Tags

        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Region
      No Result
      View All Result
      Yorkshire Bylines
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home Politics

      ‘Common Sense Group’ provides thin veil for Tory culture wars

      The Common Sense Group are the Tories' recent attempt to silence historians and progressives from telling the truth about the British Empire.

      Kerry PearsonbyKerry Pearson
      12-11-2020 11:45
      in Politics, Region
      Statue of Winston Churchill at Chartwell House, one of the properties named in the National Trust report, to which the Common Sense Group have objected.

      Image by  iknow-uk for Creative Commons.

      239
      VIEWS
      Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
      ADVERTISEMENT

      A new group has emerged within the Tory ranks who are attempting to rewrite history under the thinly veiled disguise of standing up for “common sense”. The so-called ‘Common Sense Group’ (CSG) is a relatively new group of 59 Conservative MPs and seven peers. This cabal of right-wing politicians is just the latest page in the populist playbook, attempting to undo the progress we have made over many decades … and rewriting history in the process.

      The CSG was apparently set up as a voice for the ‘silent majority’ whom, we are told, believe that “elitist bourgeois liberals” are condescending and patronising on issues like immigration and race. The CSG’s latest, and first major, move has been to accuse the so-called “snowflake” generation and “woke’ agenda” of “rewriting history” to suit their “Marxist dogma” and liberal preoccupations.

      Which MPs are in favour of the Common Sense Group?

      Some 25 of the 59 MPs signed a letter, which challenged the notion of discovering alternative historical perspectives. Rather than considering a range of evidence from archives and historians, the CSG believe that history can be recorded in a single way that coincidentally seems to fit their worldview, from a white, Euro-centric perspective.

      Telegraph letter from 28 Conservatives, challenging the idea of portraying "multiple perspectives on history" pic.twitter.com/btdY3WO7ze

      — Sunder Katwala (@sundersays) November 9, 2020

      The language in the letter touches on both racist and antisemitic tropes, which perhaps gives us an indication of the intended audience.

      The National Trust, Churchill and colonialism

      As a recent Yorkshire Bylines article by Andy Leach points out, National Trust directors included Winston Churchill’s home in Chartwell on their list of properties with links to colonialism and slavery. The CSG’s response was to say that this was an insult to their beloved anti-fascist war hero. While we acknowledge Churchill’s indispensable role in WWII, it seems absurd to suggest it is “rewriting history” to tell the story of Churchill’s support for British imperialism and his obsolete views on race.

      The most often quoted example of Churchill’s attitudes is his response to the 1943 Bengal Famine, where an estimated two to three million Bengalis died. At the time of the famine, a group of British officials accused Churchill of causing the impoverishment. His response to this was to reverse the blame, instead accusing Indians of ‘breeding like rabbits’.

      After the National Trust saga, one of its members said that she would be revoking her membership, claiming that the charity had become “too political”. This is ironic, given the trust’s mission to educate and encourage people to delve into social and political history through their historic sites. The National Trust commented that they were simply offering “multiple perspectives on history”.

      “It is being blown up into a kind of manufactured culture war” says academic Dalia Gabriel on claims National Trust is re-writing history

      Conservative MP Ben Bradley says it was taking part in “revisionism” with “an anti-British rhetoric"#PoliticsLive https://t.co/JwwDQnoI3k pic.twitter.com/JCS4rFRL0Q

      — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 11, 2020

      Among the signatures to the CSG letter is a sadly familiar face from Yorkshire – Phillip Davies, MP for Shipley, who can always be relied upon to court controversy. He is the pro-gambling champion of men’s rights who called for sex education to be banned in schools (because he wrongly believed it led to higher rates of teenage pregnancy), and thinks employers should be allowed to pay disabled workers less money – because they’re not as productive. The list of his questionable views goes on, of course. Davies is joined from Yorkshire by two of our newer MPs – Imran Ahmad Khan (Wakefield) and Nick Fletcher (Don Valley).

      A ploy from the Tories to win back voters?

      The Tories are in a tricky situation: the Blue Wall MPs must retain their seats, but given the current climate of Brexit and a pandemic, simply being conservative may not be enough to ensure the necessary votes. The formation of groups like the CSG – appealing to a more populist agenda – may pull on many of the silent majority’s heartstrings.

      With the Black Lives Matter protests continuing and some of their efforts using vandalism or removal of statues (respectively Winston Churchill and Edward Colston), the CSG have already begun to harness the fear and anger of people opposed to the movement, by suggesting that they are ‘rewriting history’ for their ‘snowflake’ agenda.

      The letter from the CSG also comes after the vandalism of the Churchill statue in London and the push from Black Lives Matter protesters for a more balanced, truthful history curriculum within schools across the nation. What the CSG call ‘rewriting history’, can also be called simply discussing history: we ought to learn from historians who every day learn about the past and its untold stories.

      What does ‘erasing history’ really mean?

      After the removal of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol, there were similar cries from the right that this was an explicit example of the left ‘erasing’ history that did not suit their current views. In fact, this move did the opposite: the removal of the statue and the consequent media coverage genuinely prompted healthy, productive and factual discussions about Colston – who he was, what he did, and ultimately the role of British leaders in colonialism and slavery.

      History is not stationary: events cannot be isolated, because history exists and affects the future. There can be an unhealthy obsession with glorifying our past and refusing to recognise that history can be told through multiple lenses; this perhaps highlights our current insecurity about where Britain sits as a world power.


      More from Yorkshire Bylines:

      • A new era for Chile? by Kerry Pearson
      • Downing Street ‘nest of vipers’ reveals Johnson’s leadership crisis by Anthony Robinson
      • Unrest in the Tory party is driving a wedge between Cummings and Johnson by Anthony Robinson

      John Major’s recent speech was uncannily well timed. He pointed out that Britain is no longer a leading global power, but in fact, a ‘second-rank nation’, and that we must learn to embrace and cope with new history. He is convincing. Rather than eliciting feelings of shame or guilt, thoughts of the British Empire still seem to be a source of pride over our global power and presence.

      Many would admit that at school, when learning about British imperialism or slavery, we often failed to discuss the true role our country played. For this, the Mau Mau uprising comes to mind. One of the bloodiest conflicts in imperial history, where British colonial rule led Kenyans to take action against the government after white European-colonists settlers in Kenya occupied their land.

      The beauty of history is its subjectivity

      We are taught that history is objective and that facts are facts. In reality, history is constantly evolving with alternative arguments. In many ways, the history that we currently learn is already the ‘rewritten’ version that focuses on white heroes like Churchill and Horatio Nelson. We overlook the role that Empire – now commonwealth – countries played in our victories.  

      Nelson, who with the British Navy defeated France and Spain at Cape Trafalgar, is considered a hero. Yet current history narratives often forget the indispensability of the crews from the West Indies and Africa. Malcolm Godfrey, a retired naval officer who has spent time researching the black sailors who served alongside Nelson, has said, “The problem is that the records at the time show the country where they joined the ship, but not their ethnicity”. So, would the CSG argue that taking Nelson off his pedestal (quite literally) and honouring the fleets from other continents, would be rewriting history? If so, they are troublingly wrong.

      History: a reflection of current societies

      Evolving historical perspectives are a good indication of how society is constantly changing. History is not simply made up of cold hard facts – it is true that, for example, the outbreak of WWII started on 1 September 1939, but the reasons for the war are still debated and are composed of multiple stories and personal accounts. It goes without saying that it is important to preserve and continue to teach and learn about history, but this is not to say we should refuse to learn new, more deeper reasons as to why things happened.

      So what is the motivation behind this move? Is this simply a populist tactic, or are these views deeply held? By denouncing ‘rewritten history’, the CSG are attempting to harness the patriots of the nation who believe that all parts of British history are a cause for pride, despite solid evidence that much of the British Empire committed atrocities, with the support of figures like Winston Churchill.

      Dangerously though, this will threaten accurate and positive discussions about history and may thus be a hindrance to younger generations learning the truth about past events. In the words of Jonathan Lis, deputy director of the pro-EU think tank British Influence, “We do not tackle the past with silence”.

      ADVERTISEMENT
      Previous Post

      Downing Street ‘nest of vipers’ reveals Johnson’s leadership crisis

      Next Post

      Nicola Adams: the Yorkshire lass who packs a punch

      Kerry Pearson

      Kerry Pearson

      Kerry is in her final year at University of Leeds studying international history and politics. She is interested in geopolitical issues and has written articles for Bylines, the Gryphon, Leeds Human Rights Journal and Leeds History Student Times, on different international events. Kerry is passionate about human rights, foreign policy and the environment. She enjoys discussing current events - particularly humanitarian issues - with friends and family.

      Related Posts

      boris johnson clown poster
      Politics

      Johnson, Nixon and dangerous duplicity: half a century of ‘gate’ scandals

      byDr Pam Jarvis
      28 June 2022
      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown
      Environment

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

      byAndy Brown
      27 June 2022
      Conservative Party Meeting
      Politics

      Hypocrisy, desperation and excuses: Conservative Party clutch at straws over by-election losses

      bySue Wilson MBE
      27 June 2022
      Nostell Priory, Wakefield
      Music

      Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

      byJohn Heywood
      26 June 2022
      10/05/2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the House of Commons. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
      Politics

      The country needs more than just ‘Booting Boris out of Downing Street’

      byDr Stella Perrott
      26 June 2022
      Next Post
      Nicola Adams

      Nicola Adams: the Yorkshire lass who packs a punch

      Want to support us?

      Can you help Yorkshire Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

      DONATE

      Sign up to our newsletter

      If you would like to receive the Yorkshire Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

      NEWSLETTER

      LATEST

      boris johnson clown poster

      Johnson, Nixon and dangerous duplicity: half a century of ‘gate’ scandals

      28 June 2022
      Prime minister PMQ prep

      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      28 June 2022
      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

      27 June 2022
      schools bill

      Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

      27 June 2022

      MOST READ

      schools bill

      Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

      27 June 2022
      Prime minister PMQ prep

      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      28 June 2022
      10/05/2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the House of Commons. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

      The country needs more than just ‘Booting Boris out of Downing Street’

      26 June 2022
      Photo credit Robert Sharp / englishpenLicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

      The Davis Downside Dossier

      1 January 2021

      BROWSE BY TAGS

      antivaxxers Charity climate change Coronavirus Cost of living Creative industries Crime Cummings Democracy Devolution education Equality Farming Fishing hgv History Immigration Johnson Journalism Labour Local Democracy Mental Health mining money NHS NI Protocol omicron Pies pollution poverty PPE Public Health Review shortage social media Starmer tax travel Ukraine Yorkshire
      Yorkshire Bylines

      Yorkshire Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Yorkshire and beyond.

      Learn more about us

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Contact
      • About
      • Letters
      • Donate
      • Privacy
      • Bylines network
      • Shop

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • News
        • Brexit
        • Education
        • Environment
        • Health
        • Home Affairs
        • Transport
        • World
      • Politics
      • Opinion
      • Lifestyle
        • Culture
        • Dance
        • Food
        • Music
        • Poetry
        • Recipes
        • Sport
      • Business
        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Donate
      • The Compendium of Cabinet Codebreakers
      • The Davis Downside Dossier
      • The Digby Jones Index
      • Newsletter sign up
      • Cartoons by Stan
      • Authors

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      Welcome Back!

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In