The sun still hasn't set on the British Empire: Only a fifth of voters say UK's colonial past is a source of shame – and one-in-five want it back

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Only a fifth of voters believe the British Empire is something modern Britain should be ashamed of, a new poll suggests. 

A third of adults (33 per cent) believe that the UK’s colonial period in the 19th and 20th centuries is something to be ‘proud of’.

The figure rises to more than half of those who voted Conservative and Reform at the general election. 

It comes amid growing rows over whether the UK should pay financial reparations to its former colonies that could run into the trillions of pounds.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faced efforts at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting last year to get an agreement, driven by Caribbean states.

However, the survey by YouGov found that more than a fifth (22 per cent) of Britons wished the UK still had its empire, which once covered a quarter of the globe. 

And more people (35 per cent) believed that colonies were better off for having been part of the empire, than thought they were worse off (20 per cent)

A third of adults (33 per cent) believe that the UK's colonial period in the 19th and 20th centuries is something to be 'proud of'.

A third of adults (33 per cent) believe that the UK’s colonial period in the 19th and 20th centuries is something to be ‘proud of’.

However, YouGov also noted: ‘When it comes to specific areas of the world colonised by Britain, the public tend to think that England, Scotland and Wales benefited more than they suffered from the Empire, as did Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

‘Opinion is split on whether or not India, Pakistan and Bangladesh (formerly collectively the British colony of India) benefitted more than they suffered, as is the case for British colonies in South East Asia.

‘More Britons are sure that colonies in Africa are worse off overall, and likewise Ireland.

‘Again, Tories and Reform UK voters are more likely than other groups to think specific areas of the empire benefitted from Britain’s rule. 

‘Even for our former African colonies – the area the British public are most likely to say suffered from the empire – the number of Conservative and Reform UK voters who think they benefited from British rule (38-46 per cent) substantially outweighs the number who think they suffered (17-20 per cent).’

The survey also found that a growing numbers of young people are ashamed of the empire period, with more than a third (35 per cent) holding this opinion, up from a quarter (26 per cent) in 2019. 

They were the only age group of voters to markedly change between general elections. 

Estimates of the likely reparations bill for British involvement in slavery in 14 countries range from £206 billion to a staggering £19 trillion. 

The higher figure was cited in 2023 by UN judge Patrick Robinson, who called it an ‘underestimation’ of the damage caused by the slave trade. 

A group of 15 Caribbean governments has unanimously agreed to put slavery reparations on the table at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa last October.

It came after the the Prime Minister of Barbados told the United Nations that reparations for slavery and colonialism should be part of a new ‘global reset’.

But the event passed without any firm decision being made.