Evil empire?
The British Empire was forged out of slavery, racism and oppression and was vicious and brutal, says SNP MP Kenny Macaskill.
Of course it was, which is why it was successful. The Romans, Ottomans, Persians, most empires were the same. It is history and it happened a long time ago. Don’t forget, Macaskill, we Scots played a huge part in helping create the British Empire as well.
Steve Andrew Watson Lord Kitchener was an Irishman born 20 years after the abolition of slavery in the empire. I think he is more famous for his role in the First World War. His role in the Boer War and the use of concentration camps for the Boer population is often cited as an excuse by the far-right apologists for the Holocaust: “The British did it first.” Nothing of the article refers to him and you might mention he died off the coast of Orkney.
Mark Astbury On camps, the Spanish invented them in Cuba and the US used them in the Philippines in the 1890s, ahead of our use.
Robbie Craig By all means ensure all the facts of that period are aired, but a review? There are atrocities happening around the world right now that need addressed, not to mention a pandemic and climate change.
Michael Jardine Education is already changing, but it must not be allowed to swing in the other direction and teach young people to judge the past by present standards. To present pupils with all the facts and encourage debate rather than indoctrination seems the mature way forward.
Eileen Johnson And a lot of Scottish men were sailors on the slave ships; that was why a Scottish man delayed ending slavery for more than ten years after England ended it.
Trevor Mahoney Should he not concentrate on what has been learned from the past? History cannot be changed but we can make the future better.
Nan Mcewan
Wasn’t as if the Scottish played a disproportionately high role in the Empire.
Bwilliam Mclean
If it wasn’t for the British Empire the European continent would now be called Greater Germany or something similar. All of America would be Spanish or Portuguese, with slavery still enforced. India would still be a strictly caste-based society. Slavery would still be acceptable in most countries, especially Africa.
Francis Ferguson I look forward to Kenny’s deconstruction of the clan system. When it comes to man’s inhumanity to man, clan warfare is right up there. The problem is that people are selectively viewing historical events through the prism of today’s values and not accepting that for many centuries brutality, exploitation and oppression was the norm across the world.
Dance Marvel
Are you saying that an independent Scotland would not have the ability to manage its people through a pandemic... like any other normal country in the world?
Lynn Hamilton
I’m sure it could: if you were willing to impose hyperausterity on Scottish citizens and public services in order to sort out Scotland’s highestrun deficit in Europe.
Gavin Mcwhinnie
An independent Scotland couldn’t have done it.
Susan Freemantle
It’s a good scheme but... not convinced all those furloughed will be in employment by the end of the year.
Gus Stewart SNP and their supporters will
Craig Hollywood Don’t you worry, they will not be long claiming it and a hell of a lot more back. After all, they need lots of money for HS2 which will be a big benefit to Scotland... a big saving as far as Birmingham.
Brian Johnson
The UK can be involved in infrastructure projects that don’t directly benefit Scotland, surely?
John Laidlaw
And the SNP keep claiming austerity...
Natasha PH I can just imagine the outburst at Bute House: “What’s that? The Tories have saved 750,000 jobs in Scotland? How very dare they! Oh, hang on ...”
Reality Demands To Be Heard