News about William Wilberforce

BBC Antiques Roadshow expert refuses to value WWII painting due to its links to German concentration camp as guest shares its backstory

www.dailymail.co.uk, April 29, 2024
Antiques Roadshow expert Frances Christie refused to value a WWII painting during Sunday's episode of the popular BBC show. Show regular Frances told the guest, who brought in a painting of her uncle, that she didn't feel it was appropriate to put a valuation on the piece. The show, which was a re-run, was filmed at Ulster Folk Museum and as usual locals flocked to see whether their antiques were secretly worth a fortune.

Antiques Roadshow expert gets upset over 'rare' object and refuses to give it valuation: 'It's one of the most difficult things I've ever had to talk about'

www.dailymail.co.uk, April 1, 2024
On the most recent episode of the BBC show on Sunday, an Antiques Roadshow expert refused to value an object. Ronnie Archer-Morgan confessed to being furious over the sale and announced that he would not'put a price on something that suggests such terrible conduct.' The guest had brought in a disc of ivory, which she revealed she had purchased 36 years ago for £3.

STEPHEN GLOVER: The Church of England has been brutal, raving bonkers. If it persists in telling white worshippers they're racists it'll condemn itself to oblivion

www.dailymail.co.uk, March 30, 2024
The Rev J. C. Flannel, the magazine's fictional vicar, will be remembered by readers of Private Eye. He is a worldly, wyffley, wishy-washy fellow. Flannel steers clear of religious convictions. He is the kind of stupid clergyman who likes to blamer about TV soap operas in order to make them relevant. History has surpassed Rev J. C. Flannel's reign. He would be out of place in the modern Church of England. For one thing, he is white and male, which puts him at a disadvantage in certain quarters. More importantly, I'm not sure that Flannel could cope with the 'racial justice' that is so much ingrained on so many Anglican bishops and ­senior clergy.

Calls to build a new monument to the Navy's slave trade busters have been defeated by Lord Alan West, who has thrown his weight behind the initiative spearheaded by Penny Mordaunt

www.dailymail.co.uk, January 6, 2024
A defence chief has backed calls to build a new monument (mockup statuette pictured right), which acknowledges the Royal Navy's contribution to ending the slave trade. Admiral Alan West (left) has thrown his weight behind a bid led by Penny Mordaunt to design the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which has confiscated vessels and released vast numbers of men, women, and children. Yesterday, House of Commons leader David Cameron attacked 'anti-British, grievance-based' attempts to rewrite history, saying that the UK should not remain silent about being the first country to abolish slave trade, noting that it was a slave trade.

According to PENNY MOURDAUNT, a memorial to the Navy's slave trade busters is in danger of being lost forever

www.dailymail.co.uk, January 5, 2024
The House of Commons leader warns the country not to be ashamed of its past or remain ignorant of the country's achievements. She writes in the Daily Mail that, contrary to what many young people now believe, the United Kingdom was the first country to abolish the slave trade, and that many of our sailors paid the ultimate price in the process of ending it. Ms Mordaunt is also funding a drive to build the first memorial to the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron, which took control of ships moving to the Americas and released slews of men, women, and children. This Royal Navy flotilla was the principal protagonist in physically destroying the slave trade,' she writes. More than 150,000 men, women, and children were destined for servitude in the Americas between 1807 and 1867; it destroyed over 1,600 vessels and more than 1,500 sailors died in the process. It was dangerous work,' says the author.'

For the first time, King Charles supports research into royal links to the slave trade

www.dailymail.co.uk, April 6, 2023
After a statement revealed that a 17th-century predecessor owned stakes in a slave trading firm, Buckingham Palace said Charles took the issue seriously. The paper, which dates back to 1689, shows a donation of £1,000 of shares in the Royal African Company to King William III, better known as William of Orange. The wealthy merchant and philanthropist had been immortalized in a statue in Bristol before being thrown into the city's harbour in June 2020 during Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

Suella Braverman criticizes the Rwanda agreement, who has sparked a doctored social media photo of her

www.dailymail.co.uk, March 19, 2023
LBC radio presenter James O'Brien shared an edited photograph of the Home Secretary who had her laughing at a construction site in Kigali, Rwanda. 'Exactly 200 years since William Wilberforce founded the Anti-Slavery Society, here's Suella Braverman of a facility in which she hopes to deport abused victims of modern slavery.' However, the complete, uncropped photo revealed that the Home Secretary was flanked by a man and a woman who were walking her around the Bwiza Riverside Estate and then smiling as they shared a joke with her. Mrs Braverman of O'Brien's post: "I encourage him to come to Rwanda before he casts aspersions on this beautiful, welcoming world."

Henry Dundas, a Tory politician from the 18th century, has a plaque on his monument that reads "inaccurate."

www.dailymail.co.uk, February 28, 2023
In response to claims that the Melville Monument's plaque (pictured left) is inaccurate and misleading, planning officials are recommending that it be erased (pictured left) and misleading about the 'contentious figure.' The monument, which was installed in Edinburgh after Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2021, explains Henry Dundas' (top center) role in delaying the abolishment of slavery in the 1800s, according to Scotland's first black scholar Sir Geoff Palmer, who states that Dundas was "instrumental" in deferring devolution.' Activists left signs at the monument in June 2021, some, including Sir Geoff Palmer, calling for the controversial plaque to be replaced.

Inmates looking after ducks may be able to help them avoid gang culture, according to prison chiefs

www.dailymail.co.uk, January 22, 2023
The ducks were released by HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire as part of its Pet Assisted Therapy scheme to encourage prisoners to abandon gang beliefs. The ducks, which came from a local rescue center, were not the only meditative device to be used at the Serco-run facility. In-cell yoga and chess, a band, and plans to plant vegetables and flowers are all available at the Category B facility.

LEO MCKINSTRY: Our modern slavery laws are being abused to fuel misery and exploitation

www.dailymail.co.uk, December 6, 2022
LEO MCKINSTRY: Well, it's now abundantly apparent that this tumultuous discussion of modern slavery in recent years, rather than shielding the vulnerable, is actually contributing to misfortification and imperialism. Nowhere is this descent into anarchy more apparent in the English Channel, where gangs of traffickers operate with near impunity, while British patrol vessels provide a quasi-ferry service. More than 44,000 illegal migrants have crossed this year, up more than half on 2021. According to then Home Secretary Priti Patel, the bulk of these arrivals are young adult males and, on some days, more than 60% were Albanian nationals, with some days being during the summer. Given that Albanians' homeland is not at war, few if any of them have a valid reason for asylum. However, claiming to be a victim of "modern slavery" can be the fastest way to secure leave, even in the absence of clear evidence.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: By dawn, Cambridge was enslaved

www.dailymail.co.uk, September 30, 2022
DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Cambridge University has a more proud tradition of combating slavery than any other institution in the world (file photo). Cambridge, the country's second-oldest university, was ruled by William Wilberforce's long parliamentary career, from 1780 to 1825, who was dominated by his campaign to abolish the slave trade. In the same way, it was Cambridge that educated Wilberforce's friend and mentor Thomas Clarkson, an evangelical preacher who lived in the United States for nearly half a century, delivering thousands of sermons and lectures to rally public support for slavery's abolishment. To top it all, Cambridge was also a home from home for the great anti-slavery champion Olaudah Equiano, who was enslaved as a child in what's now Nigeria, before gaining his freedom and becoming one of the most outspoken of all abolitionists.

When a royal commentator says that African kings should pay reparations, Don Lemon is stunned into silence

www.dailymail.co.uk, September 20, 2022
After a royal commentator told him reparations are required, CNN anchor Don Lemon was at a loss for words. But it should not be demanded from African kings who sold their subjects into slavery. On the day of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, Lemon talked to Hilary Fordwich, who suggested that the British royal family should pay reparations. Lemon said, "This is coming when... all of this wealth, and you hear about it, is coming soon" as England's living expenses rises, a living crisis, austerity budget cuts, and so on. You may have those who are calling for colonialism's compensation, and they're asking, you know, $100 billion, $24 billion here and there, as well as $500 million there.' 'Some people want to be paid back and members of the public are wondering, why are we suffering when you have all of this vast wealth? Those are legitimate questions.' Fordwich replied: "I think you're correct about reparations in terms of whether or not people want it.' What they need to do - is you always need to go back to the beginning of a supply chain, where was the beginning of the supply chain?'

Not even the Queen would have predicted such a rich in music and beauty on such a large scale

www.dailymail.co.uk, September 19, 2022
DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Of all the spectacular shows that have unfolded in our country's capital over the past 70 years, there has never been one like Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. It was also Britain's saddest day and our best, utterly stunning and yet poignant. And amid the pomp and glamour, it was difficult to forget that this was a farewell to an individual human being, a wife and mother with dreams and concerns that we may never know. And as I watched her children and grandchildren, I was reminded of many humbler funerals, much removed from the world's view. Of course, this was not just a private function. Such is the burden of monarchy. Even in death, there can be a great deal between the personal and the public for a queen.