Academics cannot be allowed to erase our Anglo-Saxon past - GP Taylor

The increased focus on anti-racism comes amid a broader debate over the continued use of terms like “Anglo-Saxon”, with some alleging that the ethnonym is used to support “racist” ideas of a native English identity.

When I read this, I was shocked that anybody would find such a term offensive. I can trace my lineage from Norse settlers in Scotland who later moved to Ireland and then turned up in Yorkshire. I regard myself as English and I am proud of our history and culture that my ancestors were assimilated into.

I do not regard my heritage as being racist. In fact, what people tend to forget is that if it had not been for the English then slavery might still be a major problem in the world today. At one time, 40 per cent of our GDP was used to fight slavery around the world. Many British soldiers and sailors gave their lives fighting to set slaves free.

The Department of Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Cambridge have stated that their teaching “seeks to dismantle the basis of myths of nationalism - that there ever was a ‘British’, ‘English’, ‘Scottish’, ‘Welsh’ or ‘Irish’ people with a coherent and ancient ethnic identity - by showing students just how constructed and contingent these identities are and always have been.”

In other words, Britain was always a multicultural hotspot with lots of migrants coming along and getting on together. I believe that is far from the truth. Wars were fought and people were killed. Our country was forged by blood and steel. It was not a cosy get together of cultures. Integration came at a price.

The change in the teaching of a multicultural past appears to be done to appease the woke agenda. The woke agenda that celebrates every other culture and heritage apart from being white, Christian and British.

I believe it is yet another attempt to foster the idea that there is nothing wrong with mass migration.

Sadly, as Sweden has admitted, multiculturalism doesn’t work. Mass migration has caused immense problems in the country.

Sweden’s prime minister has said the Scandinavian country has failed to integrate many of the immigrants who have settled there over the past 20 years, creating a nation of “parallel societies … living in different realities”.

This is what happens when a government gives in to the woke agenda and forgets the history and culture of the nation.

Britain is a culturally rich nation with an Anglo-Saxon heritage. In the past, when people came to this country, there was a mutual assimilation of traditions. Roman, Norse, Norman, Celtic have all come together to give us what we have today.

The Swedish example shows us that some migrants are unwilling to change and cling on to the norms and morays of their culture. Instead of helping to build a language, some would rather stick to speaking in their native tongue.

This leads to educational and social segregation and parallel societies inhabiting the same place. It is culturally dangerous.

Like the Huguenot’s, those fleeing persecution should be prepared to integrate, bringing with them the best of their culture whilst learning our language and assimilating into our society and not setting up urban ghettos.

This country has always been a melting pot of traditions and cultures. It is because of that; Britain is the way it is today. We have an open society where people can identify and dress exactly how they want.

We in Britain should be proud of our culture and heritage. Academic institutions should promote it without fear that teaching about Anglo-Saxons will turn students into neo-Nazis.

I am proud of being British and love the culture and freedoms being born here brings. That doesn’t make me a racist. In fact, being British means, we are always willing to fight and die for those who are oppressed regardless of race, creed or sexuality. My uncle died doing exactly that during the last war.

Our history is what gives us such a diverse culture. A culture that must be celebrated and promoted. It is nothing to be ashamed of. We must learn from our past. Anyone coming to this country must become a part of our society.

Like all those who have come before us, the value of immigration is integration and assimilation. Cambridge academics must understand that they cannot cancel our history and replace it with woke conspiracy theories.

GP Taylor is a writer and broadcaster who lives in Yorkshire.