On 30 November 2021 Neil Oliver delivered the New Culture Forum's 2021 Smith Lecture to a sold-out audience in central London. The title to his talk was "The Attack on Our History & Culture".

In recent years we have seen a concerted effort to rewrite British history, denigrating its achievements, exaggerating its faults and casting its heroes as villains. From Churchill to Nelson, our most revered national figures have been unjustly defamed & their reputations traduced.

From the abolition of slavery to the Industrial Revolution and the development of one of the world’s most racially tolerant societies, Britain’s remarkable achievements are now undermined by agenda-driven historical revisionists.

Alas, from schools to universities, our younger generations are now all too often taught such revisionism as historical fact. No surprise, therefore, that attitudes towards Britain’s history & culture, and institutions such as the Monarchy, are far more negative in those under 25 than above it.

This divergence in opinion is greater than we have ever known before – and does not bode well for the future. For a nation ignorant of its past is unlikely to sustain its culture, institutions and society.

Whether our current predicament is evidence of the Marxist “Long March Through the Institutions” or not, from the Soviet Union to “Year Zero” Cambodia, the revision – and eradication – of history is a favourite tactic of radical ideologues.

NEIL OLIVER

Neil Oliver has considerable first-hand experience of “cancel culture” and the attack on history. During his tenure as President of the Scottish National Trust (2017-2020) he was subjected to numerous attacks and pressure to oust him for his public views, including supporting Scotland remaining within the Union, condemning the Scottish government’s “Hate Crime Bill” and defending JK Rowling against accusations of transphobia.

THE SMITH LECTURE

The Smith Lecture is the NCF’s flagship annual event and is delivered by a nationally or internationally significant figure from the arts, media, politics or academia noted for their involvement in the “culture wars”.

Smith Lecturers
2017: Douglas Murray, journalist & author
2018: Nigel Farage MEP
2019: Dr. David Starkey, historian & broadcaster
2021: Neil Oliver, author & broadcaster

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