Former Monty Python star Michael Palin has said that Britain must stop apologising for its colonial past.
Palin, who now hosts TV travel documentaries which include "Pole to Pole", "Sahara" and "Himalaya" told the Royal Geographical Society that we should look at the many benefits that the British Empire brought.
In 1997, the then new PM Tony Blair apologised for the Irish potato famine of 1845-1852, despite it happening 150 years earlier before Blair was even born (and was started by diseased potatoes).
In reality, Britain never set out to deliberately colonise the many areas that it did. Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, in office from 1855 to 1858 and then 1859 to 1865, claimed that the empire was 'acquired in a fit of absentmindedness'.
The British Empire was at its largest just 90 years ago, in 1921, when George V was monarch and David Lloyd George was Prime Minister.
Despite travelling to almost every country on the globe for his travel documentaries, Palin says he is still proud to be British.
In an interview earlier this year, Palin said that despite seeing some of the most beautiful scenery around the globe he is "an English city boy and I can't really get away from that. I love travelling, but I love coming home. So I suppose in the end I'd have to say the British Isles are where I'm happiest."
Michael Palin urges Britain to stop apologising for its colonial past
By Neil Sears
01st October 2009
Daily Mail
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No regrets: Michael Palin thinks we should stop apologising for Britain's colonial past
Britain should stop apologising for its colonial past, travel show presenter Michael Palin has suggested.
The popular Monty Python star said in an interview marking his new role as president of the Royal Geographical Society that we should instead remember the good that arose from Britain's days at the helm of a worldwide empire.
Palin's feelings are in stark contrast to the tendency of modern politicians to bend over backwards to apologise for Britain's imperial past.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997 apologised for the 19th century Irish potato famine, and three years ago expressed 'deep sorrow and regret' for Britain's involvement in the slave trade (Britain was the first country in the world to abolish it, so we have less to be ashamed of than everyone else).
Palin, however, suggested in an interview with Geographical magazine that we should stop fixating on what are now perceived to be crimes in the distant past.
Palin said: 'If we say that all of our past involvement with the world was bad and wicked and wrong, I think we're doing ourselves a great disservice.
'It has set up lines of communication between people that are still very strong.
'We still have links with other countries - culturally, politically and socially - that, perhaps, we shouldn't forget.'
Palin - who created a second career for himself outside comedy when he began travelling the world on camera - also said that he wanted geography to be treated more seriously as an academic subject.
'It's a subject that still seems to be neglected,' he said.
'It's seen as a slightly nerdy subject, and I can't really begin to think why when you look at what's happening in the world.
'Whether it's endemics, terrorism, or global warming, knowing the geography is so vitally important. I want to overcome the feeling that geography isn't really a serious subject, or a subject you should choose to study - and say that it's the subject you ought to choose.'
Enlarge
Life during the Raj: a British Army officer at ease during the early days of British rule in India
Despite so spanning the globe that it came to be said that 'the sun never sets on the British empire', Britain never set out to achieve dominance over a quarter of the world's population.
Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston claimed that the empire was 'acquired in a fit of absentmindedness', and it is broadly true that our overseas territories did expand by a series of accidents rather than thanks to an aggressive master plan.
Thanks to Henry VIII's establishment of the Royal Navy, however, the state became increasingly involved in overseas adventures, and by 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.
Confidence in our seafaring abilities helped with the establishment of the first English settlement in America at Jamestown (named after King James I), Virginia (named after Queen Elizabeth I), in 1607.
America then became a large outpost of the mother country - until the War of Independence at the end of the 18th century.
Australia, however, was added to our territories soon after the loss of America, and India was transformed from a marketplace for British goods into a territory run by direct rule in 1858.
The 'Scramble for Africa' by European nations in the 19th century eventually left Britain the clear winner, with much of the continent coloured Imperial red on maps.
By 1921 the empire covered a quarter of the world and governed 570 million people.
The benefits of British legal and administrative systems, as well as thousands of miles of roads and railways, remain with many former subject countries today, long after they achieved independence in the course of the 20th century.
dailymail.co.uk
Palin, who now hosts TV travel documentaries which include "Pole to Pole", "Sahara" and "Himalaya" told the Royal Geographical Society that we should look at the many benefits that the British Empire brought.
In 1997, the then new PM Tony Blair apologised for the Irish potato famine of 1845-1852, despite it happening 150 years earlier before Blair was even born (and was started by diseased potatoes).
In reality, Britain never set out to deliberately colonise the many areas that it did. Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, in office from 1855 to 1858 and then 1859 to 1865, claimed that the empire was 'acquired in a fit of absentmindedness'.
The British Empire was at its largest just 90 years ago, in 1921, when George V was monarch and David Lloyd George was Prime Minister.
Despite travelling to almost every country on the globe for his travel documentaries, Palin says he is still proud to be British.
In an interview earlier this year, Palin said that despite seeing some of the most beautiful scenery around the globe he is "an English city boy and I can't really get away from that. I love travelling, but I love coming home. So I suppose in the end I'd have to say the British Isles are where I'm happiest."
Michael Palin urges Britain to stop apologising for its colonial past
By Neil Sears
01st October 2009
Daily Mail
Enlarge
No regrets: Michael Palin thinks we should stop apologising for Britain's colonial past
Britain should stop apologising for its colonial past, travel show presenter Michael Palin has suggested.
The popular Monty Python star said in an interview marking his new role as president of the Royal Geographical Society that we should instead remember the good that arose from Britain's days at the helm of a worldwide empire.
Palin's feelings are in stark contrast to the tendency of modern politicians to bend over backwards to apologise for Britain's imperial past.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1997 apologised for the 19th century Irish potato famine, and three years ago expressed 'deep sorrow and regret' for Britain's involvement in the slave trade (Britain was the first country in the world to abolish it, so we have less to be ashamed of than everyone else).
Palin, however, suggested in an interview with Geographical magazine that we should stop fixating on what are now perceived to be crimes in the distant past.
Palin said: 'If we say that all of our past involvement with the world was bad and wicked and wrong, I think we're doing ourselves a great disservice.
'It has set up lines of communication between people that are still very strong.
'We still have links with other countries - culturally, politically and socially - that, perhaps, we shouldn't forget.'
Palin - who created a second career for himself outside comedy when he began travelling the world on camera - also said that he wanted geography to be treated more seriously as an academic subject.
'It's a subject that still seems to be neglected,' he said.
'It's seen as a slightly nerdy subject, and I can't really begin to think why when you look at what's happening in the world.
'Whether it's endemics, terrorism, or global warming, knowing the geography is so vitally important. I want to overcome the feeling that geography isn't really a serious subject, or a subject you should choose to study - and say that it's the subject you ought to choose.'
Enlarge
Life during the Raj: a British Army officer at ease during the early days of British rule in India
Despite so spanning the globe that it came to be said that 'the sun never sets on the British empire', Britain never set out to achieve dominance over a quarter of the world's population.
Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston claimed that the empire was 'acquired in a fit of absentmindedness', and it is broadly true that our overseas territories did expand by a series of accidents rather than thanks to an aggressive master plan.
Thanks to Henry VIII's establishment of the Royal Navy, however, the state became increasingly involved in overseas adventures, and by 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.
Confidence in our seafaring abilities helped with the establishment of the first English settlement in America at Jamestown (named after King James I), Virginia (named after Queen Elizabeth I), in 1607.
America then became a large outpost of the mother country - until the War of Independence at the end of the 18th century.
Australia, however, was added to our territories soon after the loss of America, and India was transformed from a marketplace for British goods into a territory run by direct rule in 1858.
The 'Scramble for Africa' by European nations in the 19th century eventually left Britain the clear winner, with much of the continent coloured Imperial red on maps.
By 1921 the empire covered a quarter of the world and governed 570 million people.
The benefits of British legal and administrative systems, as well as thousands of miles of roads and railways, remain with many former subject countries today, long after they achieved independence in the course of the 20th century.
dailymail.co.uk
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