More than a century ago, Britain was seen as the place to be. It was a pioneer in science, including medicine. It built industries such as railroads and major bridges and created a strong middle class. And despite what some might say, it was the only major empire to abolish slavery and police the oceans, at its own expense, to ensure that other countries did not enslave people. And it had the largest navy in the world. Now many say it all seems like a distant memory.
The latest controversy concerns images or statues of some of Britain’s most acclaimed people. The face of Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during the Second World War, is removed from the five-pound note by the Bank of England. Britain’s reform leader Nigel Farage called the decision “absolutely crackpot,” noting that the proposal was to replace Churchill and others with an image of a beaver.
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Churchill’s statue in Westminster was vandalized in 2020 and again last month. Churchill led the defense of Britain, the only country in Europe that did not fall during World War II.
In this photo illustration, 5 pound notes and Winston Churchill lie on a table. (Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Statues of British people who lived centuries ago are planned to be torn down and then destroyed. Some of these efforts have been successful. Some don’t. William Gladstone, Robert Peel, James Cook and Francis Drake were targeted for destruction by activists, according to Sky News. These men were respectively a reformist prime minister, the founder of the police, a naval explorer and a privateer. Fortunately, their images remain largely intact.
Now William Shakespeare is under attack. Apparently being white is a bad thing, and some say the Bard was actually a black woman. The activist summary is that Shakespeare could be used to argue for white nationalism.
These attempts to erase high-achieving Britons from history may seem trivial, Matt Goodwin, a presenter for GB News, wrote on X. “It matters a lot more than many people realise,” he wrote. “Across the Western world, an assortment of diversity, equality and inclusion [DEI] bureaucrats, radical activists and increasingly compliant public institutions are engaged in a cultural project that aims to delegitimize our national identity.”
The statue of Sir Winston Churchill, which was defaced overnight with red paint and the words “Free Palestine”, in Parliament Square, London, Great Britain, February 27, 2026. (REUTERS/Carlos Jasso)
It’s not just images and images that are being targeted. Flying the flag of your own country can get you in trouble. Leftists in Britain, such as supporters of the Labor Party, often view raising the British Union Flag or England’s George Cross as racist or anti-immigration.
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British MP Robert Jenrick climbed a post in Newark, UK to hang a British flag. (Robert Jenrick via X)
Planning authorities, usually local British councils, do not have to grant permission for people to fly the Union Flag or the George Cross. Other flags are seen as advertising. However, you are not allowed to spray paint a George Cross on a building that is not yours.
Despite the George Cross being seen as anti-immigrant in Britain, the historic St. George, who died about 1,700 years ago, is mentioned in the Quran as a friend of Moses. And some religious scholars suggest that he is a servant of God.
A detail of the newly discovered portrait of William Shakespeare, presented by the Shakespeare Birthplace trust, is seen in central London, Monday, March 9, 2009. The portrait, believed to be virtually the only authentic image of the writer made from life, has belonged to one family for centuries but was not recognized as a portrait of Shakespeare until recently. There are very few similarities with Shakespeare, who died in 1616. (Leftis Pitarakis/AP Photo)
At the same time, the British economy has come to an almost total standstill under the current centre-left Starmer government. According to data from Trading Economics, the unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in December, up from 3.6% in August 2022. The country’s GDP growth has been stuck at 1% or less since the first quarter of 2022.
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Part of the rush to include flags may be Britain’s disastrous economy. One notable, ill-conceived government policy came from the Labor Party, which imposed an increase in national insurance premiums (the US equivalent of FICA) for businesses, undermining any chance of an increase in employment, as the increase in costs effectively acted as a tax on employment.
