Owen Jones

“British exceptionalism likes to portray the country as a historic oasis of liberty...The demands to remove statues...directly contradict this myth...Our new history teachers are explaining that the vast wealth of western societies – unjustly concentrated in so few hands as it is – was generated through slavery, colonial violence and theft. This oppression required the dehumanisation of the populations who suffered the consequences – its legacy is the embedding of racism in institutions and entire societies...What we are witnessing are minorities battling for rights and dignity they have long been denied – and a weaponised backlash from the right against their progress.”

“Our sense of self is bound up with our interpretation of history; that is what makes this struggle uncomfortable for so many. But it is not supposed to be comfortable. As more statues fall, a new history is remembered – each one casting a disturbing new light on the present. Understanding this threatens our iniquitous status quo – that is what detractors truly fear, not the toppling of bygone racist tyrants.”

“Labour’s Brexit policy is simple, but it has communicated it badly. Making that mistake in an election would be disastrous”

“Assange must answer the accusation in Sweden without the threat of extradition to the US.”

“The only way out of May’s Brexit chaos is for Labour to force an election”