21 July 2020
Cross-posted from the Historical Association
We are historians of Britain and the British Empire and writing in protest at the on-going misrepresentation of slavery and Empire in the “Life in the UK Test”, which is a requirement for applicants for citizenship or settlement (“indefinite leave to remain”) in the United Kingdom. The official handbook published by the Home Office is fundamentally misleading and in places demonstrably false. For example, it states that ‘While slavery was illegal within Britain itself, by the 18th century it was a fully established overseas industry’ (p.42). In fact, whether slavery was legal or illegal within Britain was a matter of debate in the eighteenth century, and many people were held as slaves. The handbook is full of dates and numbers but does not give the number of people transported as slaves on British ships (over 3 million); nor does it mention that any of them died. It also states that ‘by the second part of the 20th century, there was, for the most part, an orderly transition from Empire to Commonwealth, with countries being granted their independence’ (p.51). In fact, decolonisation was not an ‘orderly’ but an often violent process, not only in India but also in the many so-called “emergencies” such as the Mau-Mau Uprising in Kenya (1952-1960). We call for an immediate official review of the history chapter.
People in the colonies and people of colour in the UK are nowhere actors in this official history. The handbook promotes the misleading view that the Empire came to an end simply because the British decided it was the right thing to do. Similarly, the abolition of slavery is treated as a British achievement, in which enslaved people themselves played no part. The book is equally silent about colonial protests, uprisings and independence movements. Applicants are expected to learn about more than two hundred individuals. The only individual of colonial origin named in the book is Sake Dean Mohamet who co-founded England’s first curry house in 1810. The pages on the British Empire end with a celebration of Rudyard Kipling.
The “Life in the UK Test” is neither a trivial quiz nor an optional discussion point. It is an official requirement in the application for settlement or citizenship and provides essential information about the United Kingdom. The handbook ‘has been approved by ministers and has official status.’ It requires applicants to remember and repeat the information it contains, which is, then, tested in an official multiple choice test. The examination is ‘based on ALL parts of the handbook’, which includes the parts mentioned above.
This publication and its official view of British history is not a left over from the distant past. It is a recent innovation, and some of its most misleading passages date only from the third edition published by the Home Office in 2013 which, with minor updates, remains the official text to this day.
This official, mandatory version of history is a step backwards in historical knowledge and understanding. Historical knowledge is and should be an essential part of citizenship. Historical falsehood and misrepresentation, however, should not.
In 2019, 125,346 individuals applied for naturalisation; almost all will have had to pass the test before applying. Many thousands more took the test in order to settle here. For many, it will have been their introduction to British history. For applicants from former colonies with knowledge of imperial violence, this account is offensive. For those from outside the former Empire without prior education in history, the official handbook creates a distorted view of the British past. For those with a basic knowledge of history, whatever their background, it puts them in the invidious position of being obliged to read, remember and repeat a version of the past which is false. For British citizens in general, the official history perpetuates a misleading view of how we came to be who we are.
The aim of the official handbook is to promote tolerance and fairness and facilitate integration. In its current version, the historical pages do the opposite
As historians we believe in debate, but interpretations of the past have to be based on facts. The distortion of the past is a challenge to democratic culture and liberal values. Historical misrepresentation should not be officially sponsored by the state. We, therefore, urge the Home Office to review the “Life in the UK Test” as a matter of urgency. Until the history chapter has been corrected and rewritten, it should be formally withdrawn from the test.
We welcome support from all members of the historical profession at any stage of their career. If you are a historian and would like to add your name in support of a review of the official Home Office handbook for the citizenship and settlement test, please use the this form.
Signatories: 181
| Lynn | Abrams | Professor of Modern History, University of Glasgow |
| Wale | Adebanwi | Professor, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford |
| Shahmima | Akhtar | Past and Present Fellow working on Race, Ethnicity and Equality in UK History, Royal Historical Society |
| Sally | Alexander | Emerita Professor of Modern History, Goldsmiths University of London |
| Jocelyn | Alexander | Professor of Commonwealth Studies, University of Oxford |
| Richard | Anderson | Lecturer in Colonial and Post-Colonial History, University of Exeter |
| Edward | Anderson | Lecturer in History, Northumbria University |
| David | Anderson | Professor of African History, University of Warwick |
| Clare | Anderson | Professor of History, University of Leicester, and Editor of Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History |
| Nir | Arielli | Associate Professor of International History, University of Leeds |
| David | Armitage | Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard University |
| David | Arnold | FBA, Emeritus Professor of Asian and Global History, University of Warwick |
| Alison | Atkinson-Phillips | Lecturer in Public History, Newcastle University |
| Gareth | Austin | Professor of Economic History, University of Cambridge |
| Manuel | Barcia | Professor of Global History, University of Leeds |
| Hannah | Barker | Professor of British History, Director of the John Rylands Research Institute, SALC, University of Manchester |
| Angela | Bartie | Senior Lecturer in Scottish History, University of Edinburgh |
| Huw | Bennett | Reader in International Relations, Cardiff University |
| Maxine | Berg | FBA, Professor of History, University of Warwick |
| Helen | Berry | Professor of British History, Newcastle University |
| Mark | Bevir | Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for British Studies, University of California at Berkeley |
| Eugenio | Biagini | Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, University of Cambridge |
| Somak | Biswas | Early Career Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies/History, University of Warwick |
| Joanna | Bourke | FBA, Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Sean | Brady | Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| John | Brewer | Eli and Edythe Broad Emeritus Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Faculty Associate Harvard University History Department |
| Emily | Bridger | Senior Lecturer in Global and Imperial History, University of Exeter |
| Peter | Brooke | Departmental Lecturer in African History, University of Oxford |
| Anna | Bruzzone | College Lecturer in European and World History 1800-present, Oriel College, University of Oxford |
| Trevor | Burnard | Wilberforce Professor of Slavery and Emancipation at the University of Hull |
| Elizabeth | Chatterjee | Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London |
| Joya | Chatterji | FBA, Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Simukai | Chigudu | Associate Professor of African Politics, University of Oxford |
| Gemma | Clark | Senior Lecturer in British/Irish History, University of Exeter |
| Patricia | Clavin | FBA, Professor of International History, University of Oxford |
| Michael | Collins | Associate Professor of Modern British History, UCL |
| Matt | Cook | Professor of Modern History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Matthew | Cragoe | Visiting Professor, University of Lincoln |
| Tom | Crook | Senior Lecturer in Modern British History, Oxford Brookes University |
| Tom | Cunningham | Research Fellow, History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh |
| Gareth | Curless | Senior Lecturer in History, University of Exeter |
| William | Dalrymple | Author |
| Martin | Daunton | FBA, Emeritus Professor of Economic History, University of Cambridge |
| Lucy | Delap | Reader in Modern British and Gender History and Deputy Chair History Faculty, University of Cambridge |
| Katie | Donington | Senior Lecturer in History, London South Bank University |
| Wayne | Dooling | Senior Lecturer in the History of Southern Africa, SOAS, University of London |
| Shane | Doyle | Professor of African History, University of Leeds |
| Nicholas | Draper | Former Director, Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, UCL |
| Felix | Driver | Professor of Historical Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Saul | Dubow | Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History, Cambridge University |
| Hannah | Elias | Lecturer in Black British History, Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Martin | Farr | Senior Lecturer, School of History, Newcastle University |
| Dan | Feather | Lecturer in Humanities and Social Science, Liverpool John Moores University+C61 |
| David | Feldman | Director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antsemitism, Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Margot | Finn | Professor of Modern British History, UCL |
| Robert | Fletcher | Reader in the History of Britain and Empire, University of Warwick |
| Professor Sir Roderick | Floud | FBA |
| Roy | Foster | FBA, Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and Professor of Irish History and Literature, Queen Mary University of London |
| Jo | Fox | Director and Professor of Modern History, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London |
| Christienna | Fryar | Lecturer in Black British History, Goldsmiths, University of London |
| Leigh | Gardner | Associate Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics |
| Anindita | Ghosh | Professor of Modern Indian History, University of Manchester |
| Tim | Gibbs | Lecturer, African History, UCL |
| Paul | Gilroy | Professor of the Humanities and Founding Director, Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism & Racialisation |
| Emma | Griffin | Professor, School of History, University of East Anglia |
| Simon | Gunn | Professor of Urban History, University of Leicester |
| Nicholas | Guyatt | Reader in North American History, University of Cambridge |
| Catherine | Hall | Emerita Professor of History, UCL, Chair of the Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-Ownership |
| Ryan | Hanley | Lecturer in Modern British History, University of Exeter |
| Deana | Heath | Reader in Indian and Colonial History, Department of History, University of Liverpool |
| Sacha | Hepburn | Teaching Fellow in African History, University of Warwick |
| Rachel | Herrmann | Lecturer in Modern American History, Cardiff University |
| Gad | Heuman | Emeritus professor, University of Warwick |
| Matthew | Hilton | Professor of Social History, Vice Principal (Humanities and Social Sciences), Queen Mary University of London, Co-editor, Past and Present |
| Julian | Hoppit | Astor Professor of British History, UCL |
| Anthony | Howe | Professor of Modern History, University of East Anglia |
| Jane | Humphries | FBA, Centennial Professor, London School of Economics, Emeritus Professor, Oxford University |
| Emma | Hunter | Professor of Global and African History, University of Edinburgh |
| Richard | Huzzey | Reader in Modern British History, Durham University |
| Stacey | Hynd | Senior Lecturer in African History, Co-Director of the Centre for Imperial and Global History, University of Exeter |
| Will | Jackson | Associate Professor of Imperial History, School of History, University of Leeds |
| Louise A. | Jackson | Professor of Modern Social History, University of Edinburgh |
| Max | Jones | Senior Lecturer in Modern History, University of Manchester |
| Yasmin | Khan | Associate Professor of History, Oxford |
| Nicki | Kindersley | Lecturer in Black History, Cardiff University |
| Tony | Kushner | Professor, Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton |
| Julia | Laite | Reader in Modern History, Birkbeck, University of London, Director of the Raphael Samuel History Centre |
| David | Lambert | Professor of Caribbean History, University of Warwick |
| Paul | Lane | Jennifer Ward Oppenheimer Professor of the Deep History & Archaeology of Africa, University of Cambridge |
| Miles | Larmer | Professor of African History, University of Oxford |
| Jon | Lawrence | Professor of Modern British History, University of Exeter |
| Elisabeth | Leake | Associate Professor of International History, University of Leeds |
| Rachel | Leow | Senior Lecturer in Modern East Asian History, University of Cambridge |
| Alan | Lester | Professor of Historical Geography, University of Sussex |
| Philippa | Levine | Walter Prescott Webb Chair of History and Ideas and Director, Programme in British Studies, University of Texas at Austin |
| James | Livesey | Professor of Global History, University of Dundee |
| Tim | Livsey | Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow in History, Northumbria University |
| John | Lonsdale | Emeritus Professor of Modern African History, University of Cambridge |
| Peter | Mandler | FBA, Professor of Modern Cultural History, University of Cambridge |
| Gerard | McCann | Senior Lecturer in Global and African History, University of York |
| Helen | McCarthy | Reader in Modern and Contemporary British History, University of Cambridge |
| Keith | McClelland | Researcher, Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, UCL |
| Clare | Midgley | Research Professor in History, Sheffield Hallam University |
| Maria | Misra | Associate Professor of History, Oxford University |
| Martin | Moore | Research Fellow, Department of History, University of Exeter |
| Renaud | Morieux | Reader in British and European History, University of Cambridge |
| Frank | Mort | Professor of Cultural Histories, University of Manchester |
| Philip | Murphy | Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies |
| Kalathmika | Natarajan | Teaching Fellow in South Asian History, University of Edinburgh |
| Simon P. | Newman | Sir Denis Brogan Professor of History, University of Glasgow |
| Paul | Nugent | Professor of Comparative African History, University of Edinburgh |
| Patrick | O’Brien | FBA, Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Former Director of the Institute of Historical Research, University of London |
| Miles | Ogborn | Professor of Geography, Queen Mary University of London |
| David | Olusoga | Professor of Public History, The University of Manchester |
| Meleisa | Ono-George | Associate Professor of Caribbean History, Department of History, University of Warwick |
| Marc-William | Palen | Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter |
| Diana | Paton | William Robertson Professor of History, University of Edinburgh |
| Helen | Paul | Lecturer in Economics and Economic History, University of Southampton, Honorary Secretary of the Economic History Society |
| Sarah | Pearsall | Senior Lecturer in American and Atlantic History, Cambridge University |
| Kennetta Hammond | Perry | Director, Stephen Lawrence Research Centre and Reader in History, De Montfort University |
| Steven | Pierce | Senior Lecturer in Modern African History, University of Manchester |
| Jessica | Reinisch | Reader in Modern European History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Giorgio | Riello | Professor of Early Modern Global History, European University Institute |
| Mark | Roodhouse | Reader in Modern British History, University of York |
| Tirthankar | Roy | Professor in Economic History, London School of Economics |
| Jan | Rüger | Professor of History and Head of Department, School of History, Classics & Archaeology, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Anita | Rupprecht | Principal Lecturer, University of Brighton |
| Jonathan | Saha | Associate Professor Southeast Asian History, University of Leeds |
| Laura | Sangha | Senior Lecturer in British History, University of Exeter |
| Hilary | Sapire | Senior Lecturer, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Aditya | Sarkar | Associate Professor of History, University of Warwick |
| Catherine | Schenk | Professor of Economic & Social History, University of Oxford, President of the Economic History Society |
| Bill | Schwarz | Professor of History & Literature, Queen Mary University of London |
| Chandak | Sengoopta | Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Leigh | Shaw-Taylor | Senior Lecturer Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century British Economic and Social History, University of Cambridge |
| Alex | Shepard | Professor of Gender History, University of Glasgow |
| Sujit | Sivasundaram | Professor of World History, University of Cambridge, Director, Centre of South Asian Studies, |
| Graham | Smith | Professor of Oral History, Oral History Unit and Collective, Newcastle University |
| Matthew | Smith | Professor of History, Director, Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership, University College London |
| Ljubica | Spaskovska | Lecturer in European History, University of Exeter |
| Gareth | Stedman Jones | FBA, Professor of the History of Ideas, Queen Mary University of London, Director, Centre for History and Economics, Cambridge, Fellow King’s College, Cambridge |
| Sarah | Stockwell | Professor, Department of History, King’s College London |
| Julie-Marie | Strange | Professor of Modern British History, Durham University |
| Jean | Stubbs | Co-Director, Commodities of Empire, British Academy Research Project, University of London |
| John | Styles | Professor Emeritus in History, University of Hertfordshire |
| Florence | Sutcliffe-Braithwaite | Lecturer in twentieth-century British history, University College London |
| Simon | Szreter | Professor of History and Public Policy, University of Cambridge |
| Naomi | Tadmor | Professor, Lancaster University and Chair, The Social History Society |
| Becky | Taylor | Reader in Modern History, University of East Anglia |
| Natalia | Telepneva | Lecturer in International History, University of Strathclyde |
| David | Thackeray | Associate Professor in History, University of Exeter |
| Pat | Thane | FBA,Visiting Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Martin | Thomas | Professor of Imperial History, University of Exeter |
| Natalie | Thomlinson | Associate Professor of Modern British Cultural History, University of Reading |
| James | Thompson | Reader in Modern British History, University of Bristol |
| Jim | Tomlinson | Professor of Economic and Social History, University of Glasgow |
| Richard | Toye | Professor of Modern History, University of Exeter |
| Robert | Travers | Associate Professor, Cornell University |
| Frank | Trentmann | Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London (contact person) |
| Guido | van Meersbergen | Assistant Professor in Global History, University of Warwick |
| Megan | Vaughan | FBA, Professor of African History and Health, Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL |
| Chris | Vaughan | Senior Lecturer in African History, Liverpool John Moores University |
| James | Vernon | Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley |
| Pippa | Virdee | Reader in Modern South Asian History, De Montfort University |
| Jelmer | Vos | Lecturer in Global History, University of Glasgow |
| Brodie | Waddell | Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Kim A. | Wagner | Professor of Global and Imperial History, Queen Mary University of London |
| David | Washbrook | Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge University |
| Rob | Waters | Lecturer in Modern British History, Queen Mary University of London |
| Ruth | Watson | Lecturer, History Faculty, University of Cambridge |
| Anthony | Webster | Professor in History, Northumbria University |
| Nicholas J. | White | Professor of Imperial and Commonwealth History, Liverpool John Moores University |
| Jerry | White | Professor of Modern London History, Birkbeck, University of London |
| Christine | Whyte | Lecturer in Global History, University of Glasgow |
| Philip | Williamson | Professor of History, Durham University |
| Justin | Willis | Professor in History, Durham University |
| Phil | Withington | Professor in Social and Cultural History, University of Sheffield |
| Waseem | Yaqoob | Lecturer in the History of Political Thought, Queen Mary University of London |
| Hannah | Young | Lecturer in nineteenth-century British history, University of Southampton |
| Natalie | Zacek | Senior Lecturer in American Studies, University of Manchester |
| Nuala | Zahedieh | Professor of Economic and Social History, University of Edinburgh |
Imperial & Global Forum 