Colston four’s critics are deluded to think Britain owes no historic apology Nesrine Malik

It was inevitable, but the speed of it was surprising. After the four protesters who toppled the statue of Edward Colston then helped to heave it into the harbour were acquitted, Conservative MPs, the rightwing press and the prime minister himself unleashed their volley of rage at the verdict. “Vandals can’t change our history,” postured Boris Johnson on the front page of the Daily Mail. A “green light to ransack the past”, said the Sun. “A monumental mistake,” punned the Telegraph, weakly.

If one