Suella Braverman revives neo-imperialist rhetoric: The former UK Home Secretary claimed former British colonies should pay reparations to Britain for the Empire’s “investment,” echoing the old “civilising mission” and “white man’s burden” ideology.

The article strongly rejects this narrative: It argues the British Empire was built on plunder, exploitation, and violence (citing $45 trillion looted from India alone, the Bengal Famine, slavery, etc.), not benevolent development.

This reflects a broader ideological resurgence: The piece links Braverman’s views to rising right-wing imperialism, Trump-era politics, and efforts to rewrite colonial history, warning it aims to obscure exploitation and weaken anti-colonial consciousness.

The editorial in The Telegraph dated 12 July 2026 has revived a controversy over the reassertion of the imperial demand for the socalled “civilising mission” that had lain dormant for some years. The timing of its arrival is as dramatic as the audacity of Suella Braverman. The former British home secretary, now ensconced in the far right Reform UK party, recently argued on social media that former British colonies should pay reparations to London for the Empire’s “investment, effort, and contribution” in building them. She asserted that the British Empire did so much good for the world. This is not a mere political gaffe; it is a statement that emanates from a rising tide of neoimperialist sentiment that seeks to drag the world backwards to an age when the West lorded over the Global South with impunity. Braverman’s statements are the ideological ammunition of a resurgent imperialism of domination, exploitation and plunder, dressed in the camouflaging robes of a “civilising mission.” This mission, at its core, has always had the mission of plunder. Why are such fanciful ideas being presented to the world in the twentyfirst century? The ideological anchorage is provided by Trumpnomics—unshackled capitalism, unsustainable rightwing welfare measures,........

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