Sunday Express

This year we will defeat tyranny of liberal wokeness

- By Sir John Hayes MP CHAIRMAN COMMON SENSE GROUP OF CONSERVATI­VE MPS

AT THE end of a year in which families faced fear and loss, with our country at greater risk than at any time since the war, the New Year’s fireworks display in London, supported by £1.5million of taxpayer funding, ought to have been an opportunit­y to celebrate what unites us as a people.

But, inexcusabl­y, instead the Mayor of London decided to finance the formation of the image of a clenched fist in the sky – the symbol of Black Lives Matter, whose UK arm is committed to defunding the police.

History will record that, when in 2020 most Britons, of all origins, combined to stay safe and protect the NHS, even during the horror of a global pandemic, culture warriors continued their campaign to pull our country apart.

Yet too many people with power, perhaps too timid to do otherwise, have kowtowed.

Perhaps militant activists remain unchalleng­ed by much of the media because, at first glance, they seem plausible.

After all, no reasonable person wants to see others subjected to abuse about their race or gender.

However, anything more than a passing look shows how the culture warriors reinforce stereotype­s and promote prejudices. Certainly, they regard with contempt most of what Britons hold dear.

Take those who want to “decolonise the curriculum” behind the campaign to tear down the statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College Oxford. It’s not just Rhodes they despise, but the whole edifice of a university embodying excellence.

Instead of seriously considerin­g the history of empire, advocates of decolonisa­tion are attempting to capture and own education.

They believe that all academic subjects, including maths and the sciences, must be “decolonise­d” – stripped of “white privilege”. Uninterest­ed in measured debate, they wish to force their ideology on others. Such is the ultimate irony of “decolonisa­tion”, advocates have the same moral certainty about their values as did the

19th-century empire builders they loathe.what is true of the “decolonise the curriculum” movement is embedded in organisati­ons from the BBC to Parliament itself.

With echoes of Mao’s cultural revolution, “unconsciou­s bias” training dictates that, having disowned our national history, recipients discard what was taught by their forefather­s and what they’ve learned from experience.

Much of the new establishm­ent sees race and gender as far more important than any other human quality. For some, even our shared common humanity is condemned.

Our vocabulary itself is under attack – the transgende­r rights movement reckons describing someone as “male” or “female” is itself an example of bigotry.

Those who refuse to be indoctrina­ted will be silenced by the “cancel culture”.this new puritanism is narrow, intolerant and spiteful.

The liberal establishm­ent’s eager embrace is an attempt to justify its own seclusion from perceived untutored mainstream sentiments.

Much of this establishm­ent – from the Mayor of London to the National Trust, from the BBC to big corporatio­ns such as Starbucks – pays lip service to woke dogma, convinced that anyone who believes in traditiona­l norms is either antiquated or simply vulgar.

These are the same haughty elitists who regard those who voted to

leave the EU as stupid. The distorted view of our history and society promoted can be countered by simply citing the facts.

For example, it just isn’t true that Britain abolished the slave trade because it was no longer profitable, as is often alleged by bourgeois liberals. Historians calculate that the impact of ending and suppressin­g the slave trade cost 1.8 per cent of national income over 60 years.

A huge outlay in the service of a just cause.

Heroic Horatio Nelson, recently targeted by elitist “wokes”, made all this possible by securing the future of our maritime power.

These are the same haughty elitists who regard those who voted to leave the E U as stupid

THE NEW year represents a new chance for a crusade against these “woke” militants. The outlandish claims made by the culture warriors would be laughable if they did not pose a sinister threat to our freedom.

Some may say, “You can’t stand in the way of progress”, but these are the same kind of people that claimed we would never leave the EU and then predicted that we could not secure a favourable trade deal.

Appeasers are wrong.

Those who oppose tyrannical “wokeness” have right on their side and, with sufficient resolve, patriots will prevent the imposition of their puritanism on us all.

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 ??  ?? DESPISED: Campaigner­s want to tear down the statue of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford
DESPISED: Campaigner­s want to tear down the statue of Cecil Rhodes in Oxford

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