Our history is complex, as is inevitably the case for any nation state of at least 1,200 years. Re-writing parts of that history, or seeking to erase them because they are painful, or trying to impose today’s morality on people from a different era, does not bring enlightenment.

Rather, it represents an utterly ahistorical approach to the past, and all the lessons we can and should learn from it. There are certainly legitimate debates about what belongs in the public square and what in a museum, but these should be measured and democratic.

We should also recognise, as I absolutely believe, that the United Kingdom has been overwhelmingly a force for good in the world. Hating ourselves & our past is enfeebling in the face of those who would deliver a darker and dystopian future if the West retreats into introspection