Alan Lester

@alanlester.bsky.social

15K followers 6.8K following 1.7K posts

British Empire Professor, University of Sussex. Co-editor, MUP Studies in Imperialism series. Views here own.
Blogs on politics of colonial history here: https://alanlester.co.uk Editor https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/the-truth-about-empire/ .. more

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Alan Lester is a British historical geographer and author who has worked for Sussex University since 2000. He was appointed Professor of Historical Geography in 2006. He is known for his research on imperial networks, colonial humanitarianism and imperial governance. .. more

Political science 40%

Sociology 34%

Posts Replies Media Videos

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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · Apr 30

The podcast of David Olusoga and I discussing Empire & the rewriting of history:

howtoacademy.com/podcasts/dav...

HOW TO PODCAST | David Olusoga & Alan Lester - The Truth About the British Empire

David Olusoga and Alan Lester reveal the dark realities of the British Empire, and reflect on the importance of historians amid the resurgence of nationalism and misinformation.

howtoacademy.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 28m

He’s on the board now!

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 33m

It’s astonishing that a man who was director of communications for a political party & who helped set up a right wing propaganda TV channel should have ever been placed on the board of a supposedly impartial & independent broadcasting service.

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...

BBC board member with Tory links ‘led charge’ in systemic bias claims, say insiders

Sources say Robbie Gibb amplified criticisms of Trump, Gaza and trans rights coverage, and had ‘a lot of oxygen in the room’

www.theguardian.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 43m

The power of the extreme right’s propaganda machine is nowhere more evident than in brainwashed Britons’ reaction to the BBC story. They love 99% of the Beeb’s output but are now so radicalised they’ll happily support an attack on it from foreign presidents and media moguls.

Outgoing BBC director general to address staff after Trump threatens to sue for $1bn

Trump says he will file legal action by Friday if the BBC does not apologise and

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Alan Lester, Judith Jesch

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18h

Thought for the day:

On Bluesky, it's "nice" to "Like", but it's (more) effective to Repost. Be effective. (You can also be nice).

Reposted by Martin Shaw

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 23h

Who’d have guessed it? The main BBC board member resisting a simple apology and reinforcing the right wing attack on the BBC from within, was a Tory government appointee and founder of GB TV. If you want impartiality, Gibb has to go. Nick Robinson on X:

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

2/2 The lobby will hunt down & amplify any mistakes such as a Panorama edit & force accountable organisations to admit & apologise. But when the lobby fabricates wider “lessons” from such mistakes, and when they tell outright lies, they can shrug off the criticism - because they are unaccountable.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

1/2 When organisations that try to be impartial, like the BBC or universities or the National Trust, try to resist culture war attacks from a mendacious right wing lobby, they are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

3/3 Whether it turns out to be victory in one battle or of the culture war as a whole depends on the government’s resolve. Nandy faces a struggle that will be pivotal for democracy in this country and significant for the wider world. Will she allow the BBC to become a far right propaganda platform?

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

2/3 An edit in a single documentary that changed the detail but not the substance of Trump’s election-overthrow speech gave them new, powerful allies who could do real damage to the BBC in the USA. They’ve secured a victory.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The BBC is facing a coordinated, politically motivated attack. With these resignations, it has given in | Jane Martinson

The corporation should have stood up to the Telegraph, Trump and the Tories. Now, its enemies know how little it takes for it to fold, says Jane Martinson, professor of financial journalism

www.theguardian.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

1/3 For years now a nexus of well funded right wing groups has been trying either to capture or undermine one of the world’s, & certainly the UK’s most effective media organisation with an impartiality ethic.

Reposted by Alan Lester

Lucy Hamilton @lucyham.bsky.social · 1d

Important conversation about how vile the racist rhetoric is becoming around the mainstream Right in Britain. Absolutely white ethnostate trash.
www.bylinesupplement.com/p/nigel-fara...

Nigel Farage's Reform a Bigger Far-Right Threat Than the BNP, Says UK’s Leading Anti-Racism Campaigner

Hope not Hate's CEO Nick Lowles says Reform's rise is mainstreaming ideas that were previously taboo even on parts of the far-right

www.bylinesupplement.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

The Telegraph being praised by a foreign autocrat for undermining the BBC.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

I really hope you’re right Alan, and she can engineer a more impartial DG.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

The DG is selected by the board …

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

This is really scary: even former Tory Davie, the disproportionate coverage of Reform and relentless attention to right wing anti-immigrant talking points have not been enough. Right wing networks want complete capture.

Davie and Turness resignation statements in full www.bbc.com/news/article...

Tim Davie and Deborah Turness resign: BBC statements in full

Director general says "mistakes have been made" but "allegations that BBC News is institutionally biased are wrong".

www.bbc.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 1d

The private company Restore Trust’s attempt to take over the @nationaltrust.org.uk failed again. Will they stop now? No, because they are part of the well-funded nexus of right wing activist organisations that’s determined to control national institutions.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...

Voting results from the AGM

Read about the National Trust's 2025 Annual General Meeting and the results from the day.

www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Reposted by Alan Lester

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

Bit of a visual metaphor for the Restore Trust/History reclaimed crew, given their losses in the AGM elections.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d

In 1962 Parliament debated Britain's responsibility for the development of its former colonies. The results were surprising. They suggest that even Conservatives might have understood @Caricom’s contemporary insistence on a reparative conversation. alanlester.co.uk/blog/britain...

Britain’s Responsibilities to Former Colonies: A Debate

Alan Lester In 1962 Britain was losing an empire and figuring out what place it might occupy on the new world stage. Decolonisation was clearly irreversible, but not all of Britain’s colonies were …

alanlester.co.uk

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 2d

I know what you mean but I like visiting National Trust properties and knowing about their histories. What concerns me more is the right wing private company Restore Trust’s attempt to stop us knowing.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d

3. Confidence that its Tory-packed board can select a successor even more amenable to right wing propaganda than Davie has been.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d

1/2 This orchestrated right wing backlash against the BBC suggests three things:

1. Concern that mounting criticism of genocide-denying & anti-immigrant reporting might be gaining traction.

2. Fear that it’s moving on from the populist culture war over gender …

www.thetimes.com/uk/media/art...

Damning dossier on Trump, Gaza and trans coverage has BBC reeling

Michael Prescott, a former adviser, warned of ‘serious and systemic problems’ in a blistering attack on the corporation’s news coverage

www.thetimes.com

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 3d

The Traitors’ castle was built by Alexander Matheson, whose uncle Co-founded the opium smuggling firm Jardine Matheson & Co., the key instigator the Opium Wars. Finalist @davidolusoga.bsky.social happens to be hosting a great new series about Empire now on BBC 2.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

You can certainly make such a case. I’d counter that there’s little to distinguish such developments as the genesis of an imperial formation but we can agree to differ!

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

A moot point when a *British* empire can really be said to begin. In the overview I’m writing now, after much wrestling, I decided it’s with plantation by English, Welsh & Scots considering themselves Britons in Gaelic Ireland.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

Just arrived!

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

Fair enough, not always anyway.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

Don’t forget to watch this much needed and long overdue series on the British Empire. Remarkably, it’s not based on the opinions of a travelling ‘personality’, but on what historians who’ve actually researched it say!

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

BBC Two - Empire with David Olusoga, Series 1, Episode 1

David Olusoga tells the story of the beginnings of the British Empire under Elizabeth I.

www.bbc.co.uk

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 4d

We all know progressive taxes have to rise to pay for better public services. If Labour had said they’d raise them before the election we might have been stuck with the dysfunctional Tories for another 4 years. At least Reeves is now trying to educate voters. Populist parties will just keep lying.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d

Sensible Letter to @thetimes.com today.

Reposted by Andrew Scott

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d

Sensible Letter to @thetimes.com today.

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 5d

Policy Exchange next?

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