Black History Month

Gareth Bacon Excerpts

Tuesday 20th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gareth Bacon (Orpington) (Con)]

As has become traditional in opening, I congratulate the hon. Member for Erith and Thamesmead (Abena Oppong-Asare) and those who sponsored her application on securing today’s debate. As a member of the Backbench Business Committee, I commend her on the way in which she put her application together and pitched it. It was not hard for us to agree to the debate—we did so unanimously—and to fast-track it so that it could take place in the Chamber in October.

The hon. Lady was entirely right to say that we should commemorate the contributions and achievements of black Britons in our country’s history. Those contributions are many and varied in the arts, entertainment, culture, politics and current affairs. I would like to discuss black British contributions to the world of sport. That is not to trivialise those contributions at all. Sport is often a cultural leader—where sport goes, society often follows. Sport touches a mass audience in a way that other activities cannot match.

I admit that from an early age I have been a sportaholic. Growing up as a child in the late 1970s and 1980s, black British role models were plentiful. Daley Thompson and Tessa Sanderson, for example, were household names for their heroics in the Olympic games in the early 1980s, as was Frank Bruno, for his achievements in and out of the boxing ring. Chris Oti was an electric presence on the wing of the England rugby union team, and Ellery Hanley and Martin Offiah were even more dominant in rugby league. As a fanatical—and somewhat disappointed, these days—Manchester United fan, I idolised the exploits of players such as Viv Anderson, Remi Moses, Paul McGrath and Danny Wallace.

More recently, on 11 August 2012, I had the pleasure of being with my family among 80,000 people in Hyde Park, watching on a big screen as Mo Farah won the 5,000 metres to complete an historic Olympic double. Seeing tens of thousands of people of all backgrounds cheering themselves hoarse and jumping for joy to celebrate the awesome achievement of a man who emigrated to this country from war-torn Somalia when he was a child was one of the most unifying things that I have ever witnessed. The sight of him draped in the Union flag during his lap of honour was an especially poignant sight.

Sport is one field among many in which black Britons have made great contributions to our country. That is why Black History Month is so important, but it is equally important that it is not hijacked by those with a political agenda who wish to sow division. There have recently been disturbing noises in certain quarters from political activists who wish to attack British history, British tradition, British culture and British institutions. For example, recently attempts have been made to sully the reputations of towering figures in British history because the views of their time do not necessarily conform to today’s values.

It is certainly true that history can be debated and can be interpreted in different ways, but it would be wholly wrong to attempt to rewrite our history to indoctrinate children with anti-British propaganda and to impose an ideological world view. These moves are dangerous; they will do nothing for inclusiveness. Instead, they will foster bitterness and resentment on all sides.

We must not go down this route; instead, as my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie) said at the beginning of this debate, let us celebrate our commonality. Let us have more Mo Farah moments. Let us use Black History Month to celebrate the achievement of black Britons and bring people together across the country, not force them apart.