A third of Brits proud of former empire: Survey

LONDON

Over two-thirds of Brits think their former empire was either something to be ashamed of or at least something to be neither proud nor ashamed of, according to a poll released on Wednesday.

British polling firm YouGov conducted the survey in Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, and Germany to compare the attitudes of the former imperial powers.

Just under a third, 32%, of Brits thought their empire was “more something to be proud of.” This was the second-highest proportion of the countries polled, with only the Dutch feeling more pride in their empire, with 50% saying they were proud of their former empire, which included Indonesia and South Africa.

The figures for the other countries were: 26% in France, 23% in Belgium, 21% in Italy, 18% in Japan, 11% in Spain, and 9% in Germany.

In all countries other than the Netherlands, indifference towards their empires was the dominant trend. Only the Dutch, Brits, and French had higher percentages of people answering “more something to be proud of” than “more something to be ashamed of.”

A third of Brits, 33%, said they felt their former colonies were better off having been colonized by them -- the highest percentage of all countries polled. The closest countries were Japan on 32%, France on 30%, and the Netherlands on 27%.

Half of Brits, 50%, said they did not wish their countries still had empires, though over a quarter, 27%, said they did.

With regards to Britain’s internal political divisions, the YouGov report said: “While 50% of Leave voters feel the empire is more something to be proud of, only 20% of Remain voters say the same. By contrast, only 9% of Leave voters tend to be more ashamed of the empire, compared to 30% of Remainers.

“Similarly, 51% of Leave voters think Britain’s former colonies are better off for their inclusion in the empire, compared to 22% of Remain voters. And while Remain voters don’t wish the empire was still around by 66% to 16%, Leave voters are split with 39% wishing it was and 40% willing to leave it in the past.”