This book covers the period from the height of the British Empire, from 1870, to 2018, when it became clear that ‘Brexit’ – the vote to leave the European Union – had increased hostilities towards racial and minority ethnic groups and migrant workers, raising sharp questions about national identity. Will a populist view prevail that there should be a ‘British identity’ underpinned by unproblematic British values and culture, largely excluding minorities? Or will arguments based on equality, human rights and economic needs prove more powerful in challenging the idea of a white, monocultural British identity unencumbered by immigrants and refugees? Will a Scottish, Welsh or Irish identity be more inclusive than an English one, assuming that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland continues to be formed out of four nations? What part will education play in future scenarios when, for over a century-and-a-half, there has been a dismal failure at all educational levels to alleviate ignorance and xenophobia?

Most white British people, including the supposedly well-educated, know little about the Empire their grandparents were born into, which post Second World War turned into a Commonwealth of some 53 nations, 31 of these with fewer than 3 million people. They also know little about the often brutal processes of decolonisation and the reasons for the arrival of immigrants from the Caribbean, the Asian subcontinent and other post-colonial countries. The incorporation of now settled citizens and their descendants into the British class structure continues to be regarded as a problem, especially if they are Muslim. Indeed, it was only in 2018 that the full story began to emerge of the deliberate creation by the Home Office of a ‘hostile environment’ towards migrants that led to the deportation of some of the early Caribbean migrants – the ‘Windrush generation’ – some after 70 years having worked in the UK (Elgot, 2018).