Immigration, decolonisation and Britain’s Radical Right with Dr Liam Liburd

What did the British empire, it’s history and legacy mean for Britain’s fascists? And what does this tell us about where the radical right fits into the politics of race in Britain today? From the creation of the pro-Empire British Fascisti by Rotha Lintorn-Orman in the 1920s to Enoch Powell’s ominous Rivers of Blood speech in 1968, the language of white supremacy and imperialism has been on the lips and in the actions of the British Radical Right historically, and still permeates aspects of political discourse on immigration today. Yet our guest, Dr Liam Liburd, Historian in Colonial/Postcolonial British History, argues that the study of British fascism has so far failed to recognise the imperial obsession of British fascists and the Far Right, or to approach it through critical race theory. In this special Black History Month episode of the War Studies podcast, he unpicks the reasons behind this and calls for the excavation of critical black perspectives to understand the motivations and impact of Britain’s fascist movement on the country.