We need to face up to our past!

 Instead of making excuses for Britain not having "an exhibition in London about British colonialism" similar to the one in Berlin, would it not have been more appropriate for your editorial to demand Britain faces up to its past (Britain can learn from Germany about not denying the past,27/12/16)? Arguing that "an act of collective national reflection" seems to be "beyond us" is both dubious and patronising, whilst the fact that the "Daily Mail and Michael Gove would dismiss it as political correctness gone mad" actually adds weight to the argument, rather than undermines it.

     In this country, we have have had a string of governments lacking the courage to reveal the truth about Britain`s shameful imperial past. Why else would historians be denied access to 1.2 million files of historical evidence, going as far back as the Crimean War? 

     Controlling the story of past events for political purposes like this goes a long way to explaining the present day`s  xenophobia. Believing that Britain`s past was glorious, and that it was always the enemy who revealed their barbarism through atrocities, was bound eventually to lead to racism and nationalism. The re-writing of our history textbooks cannot come soon enough! If Germany can face up to its history, there is no excuse for Britain not doing the same, and the Guardian should be at the forefront of the argument!