Subscribe to the Academy of Ideas Substack for more information on the next Battle and future events: https://clairefox.substack.com/subscribe THE SUN NEVER SETS: THE DECOLONISATION WAR https://www.battleofideas.org.uk/session/the-sun-never-sets-the-decolonisation-wars/ Over the summer, a Labour peer demanded that a bronze statue of Clive of India outside the Foreign Office should be taken down because it is ‘not helpful’ for diplomacy. Subsequent arguments about whether Baroness Debbonaire is right in asserting that the statue risks souring Britain’s relationship with India today are a reminder that decolonisation remains a potent political issue. Culture Wars rows over reassessing history have seen the ubiquitous rise of decolonising everything, from the curriculum and museums to stately homes and the Church of England. Assumptions about how the legacies of the Evil Empire allegedly shape the present were revealed by one recent story of civil servants working for HM Revenue & Customs, who participated in workplace seminars on the ‘guilt of being British’, with staff given the chance to explore ‘the emotional weight of colonial history’. Is it possible to develop an approach to history that respects the distinction between past and present and avoids relitigating the distant past to understand contemporary politics? It is undoubtedly challenging. For example, the 1941 Atlantic Charter agreement between President Franklin D Roosevelt and Winston Churchill may have promised to ‘respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live’, but Britain’s solution to demands for self-determination led to Partition and sectarian violence in India and Pakistan, in which millions were displaced and up to two million killed. But should understanding these historic details distort relations between the UK and India in 2025? Is it possible to contend with today’s political realities without reference to legacies of Empire? African prosperity activist and co-founder of Prospera Africa, Magatte Wade, suggests that it’s an unhelpful distraction. She complains about the trend to wrap discussions on why Africa is poor today in anti-colonial rhetoric, noting that if you question failed policies, you get labelled a ‘sellout’ or ‘colonial sympathizer’. She has posted that: ‘Yes, maybe colonialism hurt us. But there are so many things hurting us TODAY that we’re not paying attention to…People prefer arguing about events from 60+ years ago while ignoring the climate rules written FOR us that block our path to more energy. Six hundred million Africans don’t have electricity, but we’re told to skip fossil fuels and wait for expensive renewables.’ Is it possible to write about and discuss colonialism without reading history backwards or rolling it forward into the present? Is it possible to make serious moral judgements about the British Empire, without being dragged into simplistic binary conclusions? Speakers Dr Remi Adekoya lecturer of politics, University of York; author It’s Not About Whiteness, It’s About Wealth and Biracial Britain Phil Craig author, 1945: The Reckoning: War, Empire and the Struggle for a New World;TV producer Ralph Leonard author, Unshackling Intimacy: Letters on Liberty; contributor, UnHerd, Quillette, New Statesman and Sublation Magazine Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert director, Don't Divide Us; author, What Should Schools Teach? Disciplines, subjects and the pursuit of truth Chair Kevin Rooney religion, philosophy and ethics teacher; editor, irishborderpoll.com; convenor, AoI Education Forum; co-author, The Blood Stained Poppy