UK Citizenship: History

Lord Bishop of Leeds Excerpts

Wednesday 14th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I completely agree with my noble friend. The history of this nation is a long, complex and evolving one. It is important that people are given a brief overview of it, so that they can engage with the country as it now is and understand things such as our proceedings here in your Lordships’ House.

[The Lord Bishop of Leeds [V]]

My Lords, I am grateful for these answers and glad that this document will be revised in due course. It is a concise, often masterful, précis of some quite complex areas of our history, but surely a confident country can cope with complexity and with where we have failed—it is not just our glorious past. History matters. For example, in relation to the role of the Soviet Union during the Second World War, much of what is regarded as glorious standing alone by the western allies would not have been possible without the role of the Soviet Union, which lost 20 million people. Will the rewriting be open to a wider scrutiny, in order that history is perhaps taken more seriously?

[Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con)]

I certainly agree with the right reverend Prelate that a confident country engages with its history in all its complexities, including those parts which might be uncomfortable to recall today. I do not fully agree with the way that he characterises the current text. I do not think it gives a misrepresented view of history; it includes some of the darker moments of our history as well. In the three editions of this document, historians have made their views well-known and long may they continue to do so.