Nigel Biggar caused controversy when he called for a balanced appraisal of Britain’s colonial past, writing in The Times last month TOM PILSTON FOR THE TIMESAn academic at the University of Oxford has accused colleagues of encouraging “online mobbing” and public shaming, in the continuing row over free speech. Alexander Morrison is the first prominent Oxford scholar to voice his support for Nigel Biggar’s controversial call for a reappraisal of colonialism. Dr Morrison is from the faculty of history, where a mass letter condemning Professor Biggar originated. Professor Biggar sparked debate with an article in November in The Times headlined “Don’t feel guilty about our colonial history”. He advocated a balanced appraisal of Britain’s “morally mixed” colonial past, pointing to pride in the Royal Navy’s suppression of the Atlantic slave trade alongside shame at the massacre by British soldiers of unarmed demonstrators…

Source: The Times December 28, 2017 00:00 UTC