St Paul's Cathedral calls Winston Churchill's 'white supremacist'

Anger of Winston Churchill’s family as St Paul’s Cathedral lambasts him as a ‘white supremacist’ in an online post about Britain’s great wartime leader

• St Paul’s Cathedral removed the highly derogatory descriptions only last week
• The post said Churchill was an ‘unashamed imperialist and white supremacist’

St Paul’s Cathedral has provoked uproar by describing Sir Winston Churchill as an ‘unashamed imperialist’ and ‘white supremacist’ in an online post about Britain’s great wartime leader.

The cathedral, which was the venue for Sir Winston’s state funeral in 1965, removed the highly derogatory descriptions only last week after receiving complaints that they vilified a man voted as the greatest-ever Briton.

The Mail on Sunday understands the insulting description appeared on St Paul’s website for more than a year – but it remained unclear last night who was responsible for writing it.

In an article about the state funeral, the website noted the war leader’s role in ‘fending off the threat of invasion and enabling a fightback against the Nazi occupation of Europe’.

But it added: ‘He is also a figure of controversy, as he was an unashamed imperialist and white supremacist.’

Sir Winston Churchill, about Britain’s great wartime leader, salutes the famous ‘V’ for victory hand sign

The insulting description appeared on St Paul’s website for more than a year

St Paul’s Cathedral was the venue for Sir Winston’s state funeral in 1965. It removed the highly derogatory descriptions only last week

Sir Winston’s grandson Nicholas Soames last night said that the family were upset by what he called the ‘deeply offensive, thoughtless, stupid and ignorant’ remarks.

The 75-year-old Tory peer said his grandfather had ‘saved England’ by leading the fight against Hitler’s racist Nazi regime.

He added: ‘Even for allowances of some of the sort of more extreme views in the Church of England, this is really going too far. It was deeply offensive and caused great offence to a number of members of my family, and representations were made by a number of people. I am glad to see that the cathedral’s canon chancellor has now written apologising and having the thing taken down. I don’t know how it got there. It’s the sort of thing that is so thoughtless, stupid and ignorant and does the image of the Church so much harm. It’s such a terrible thing to say.’

Lee Anderson, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ‘It is getting ridiculous. Anyone publicising information like this needs to take a long, hard look at themselves and ask themselves why they hate this country so much, its history and its heritage. They are idiots.’

The offensive description of Sir Winston was changed on Friday to read: ‘He is also a figure of controversy, especially when viewed from a modern perspective.’

The cathedral acted after receiving a complaint from Nick Gent, 72, a member of the Friends of St Paul’s. In his letter last month, he wrote: ‘I believe that some of the language you have used in Churchill’s profile is too heavily charged, condemnatory to the extent that it demonises Churchill. Perhaps this language is a function of ignorance or of political ideology.’ He accepted that Churchill often made himself ‘a hostage to fortune’ with comments and jokes which would be regarded as unacceptable today.

But he said it was important to judge the man by his achievements in the defeat of Hitler.

Sir Winston’s grandson Nicholas Soames last night said that the family were upset by what he called the ‘deeply offensive, thoughtless, stupid and ignorant’ remarks. Sir Nicholas is pictured at Royal Ascot on July 27, 2019

Then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill is pictured with Queen Elizabeth II at the Commonwealth Economic Conference in Buckingham Palace on December 3, 1952

In an email to Mr Gent on Thursday, canon chancellor Dr Paula Gooder wrote: ‘We agree that the tone is not consonant with the rest of the page or pages on the website. We have removed the phrase and hope that the paragraph now feels more balanced and appropriate in this context.’

Mr Gent said: ‘Churchill was such a great humanitarian who transcended politics. He should be a role model for the young.’

Historian Andrew Roberts said: ‘It’s excellent that St Paul’s have dropped their ultra-woke stance. The cathedral was at the centre of the world during Churchill’s funeral in 1965, and their original ill-chosen words detracted from that. Since pretty much everything from the past is controversial, especially when viewed from a modern perspective; their new wording is pleasingly meaningless.’

Lady Antonia Fraser, historian and author said: ‘There is a great deal more to be said about Churchill and that he was a wonderful man. He is regularly voted the greatest Englishman and, as far as I am concerned, that is where he stays.’

Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology at Kent University, said: ‘Branding Churchill as an unashamed imperialist and white supremacist is not only an act of historical distortion but an attempt to discredit everything positive that Britain stood for in the 20th century.’

A spokesperson for St Paul’s said: ‘Information on our website regarding the state funeral of Winston Churchill was recently updated. It was brought to our attention that part of the text within the description was not consistent with the tone of the rest of the page.

‘We have therefore reworded the paragraph with the aim of making the description more balanced and appropriate in its context.’

The insults to a national hero’s memory 

It is not the first time institutions and campaigners have besmirched the reputation of Sir Winston Churchill.

He was branded a ‘white supremacist’ who was ‘worse than the Nazis’ during an event hosted at a Cambridge college named in his honour at an event in 2021.

And a bronze statue in Westminster has endured several onslaughts over the years.

A Black Lives Matter march in 2020 saw protesters spray the words ‘was a racist’ on the memorial.

And last year Albanians draped their national flag over the statue in a protest the day before Remembrance Sunday.

In 2000, a strip of turf was laid on the scalp of the memorial during May Day disturbances, which appeared to give Sir Winston a green mohican-style haircut.

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