Corbyn: ‘We should commemorate those who stood up against the slave trade’

Jeremy Corbyn left College Green to chants of “Jezza” from a starstruck group of Bristol Cathedral Choir School students late Thursday morning.

“I’m so excited just to be near him,” said one of the group, who had been in a politics class when they heard the Labour leader was nearby and rushed out to get a photo taken with him.

Corbyn deliberately scheduled the visit during Black History Month, using the opportunity to speak of his admiration for “amazing” civil rights activist Paul Stephenson and call for a broadening of the history curriculum in schools to better reflect the role and legacy of the British Empire.

Jeremy Corbyn embraces Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire

(L-R) Deputy mayor Asher Craig, Jeremy Corbyn, Desmond Brown and Sado Jirde outside City Hall

Embracing Bristol West MP Thangam Debbonaire – who has previously been a critic of the party leader – upon arrival at City Hall, he went in to view the Alone with Empire exhibition in the vestibule, before meeting the deputy mayors, chair of Bristol’s Commission for Race Equality Desmond Brown, director of Black South West Network Sado Jirde, and others.

“I think we should understand our past and not erase it, but also commemorate those who stood up against the slave trade,” said Corbyn, on Bristol’s past and the Colston Hall’s impending name change to remove mention of infamous slave trader Edward Colston.

Read more: Colston Hall to reopen with new name in 2020

“We should also commemorate the contribution made by freed slaves who came to live in Bristol, and other places, and did so much to bring about the freedom of others. It’s about understanding where our history comes from.”

Colston Hall will reopen with a new name to remove the reference to the infamous slave trader in 2020

The Labour leader expressed his commitment to broaden the history that is taught in schools and mentioned his party’s support for a new Emancipation Educational Trust to educate future generations about slavery and the fight for its abolition.

He was fairly light on any specifics regarding the curriculum, saying: “I would want to discuss and bring this about by agreement.

“I want to see a history curriculum that’s much broader than it is now. The growth of the European expansion all across the globe, the role of the slave trade and the role of the migrant communities who settled in this country.

“Understanding of history does give us a better understanding of the world and helps ultimately to bring about a more peaceful world.”

It is a poignant point in the wake of the Windrush scandal that saw people from Caribbean countries, who have lived in Britain for decades, lose homes, jobs and face deportation at the hands of the Home Office.

A mural in St Paul’s celebrates the Windrush generation. Photo by Thomas Katan

When asked what Labour is doing to seek justice for the many affected, Corbyn said: “I think we should remember Diane Abbot specifically raised the issue of the hostile environment when it came up and pointed out the 2014 legislation was going to lead to this problem.

“I have many constituents who have suffered as a result. Nobody should have been removed from this country, nobody should have had their right to remain in Britain questioned like it was – the hurt that that community has gone through: people lost their homes and jobs.

“We are quite clear that there has to be proper apology and compensation for the Windrush generation. These people built out NHS, they ran our railways, they did so much in our education system – it’s am amazing contribution to our national story and out life. Let’s treat them properly.”

Read more: Demand justice for Windrush generation

The leader of the opposition reiterated a pledge to stand by the city’s Labour mayor Marvin Rees in the fight against biting government cuts, saying “Bristol needs a fair deal”.

He said the Labour-led local government association has launched a campaign against the Tory-inflicted austerity, adding: “I have pointed out many times in Parliament – and did so again yesterday – that local government cuts are incredibly damaging to every city council that’s trying to do things.

“I congratulate Marvin on the housing that he has already got started, the imagination with which he is leading this city. Basically, Bristol needs a fair deal. A Labour Government that will not be using local government as a vehicle for austerity, but as a vehicle for economic prosperity.”

Corbyn was due to meet Paul Stephenson OBE, the famed activist who led the Bristol Bus Boycott in 1963. He said: “I think Paul is an amazing man. The Bristol Bus Boycott was seminal and does not get as much recognition as it deserves. That helped bring about the 1965 Race Relations Act.”

Running well behind schedule, the Labour leader strode off to meet the gathered crowd of mostly students on College Green before continuing on his whistlestop tour off the city.

Read more: Corbyn pledges to stand with Bristol against austerity