Horrible Histories: Brexit special of BBC children’s series branded ‘anti-British drivel’ by Andrew Neil The veteran BBC broadcaster took to Twitter to complain about a Horrible Histories sketch filmed in 2009 used in a special Brexit episode

The BBC has been criticised for broadcasting an “anti-British” sketch on its children’s website to mark the UK’s exit from the EU.

Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil, who has his own show on BBC Two and is a presenter on Politics Live, took to Twitter to complain about part of the Horrible Histories Brexit special, in particular, a song called “British Things”.

The show was presented by comedian Nish Kumar, and contained a song showing Queen Victoria being taught by a footman where things including tea, sugar and cotton come from and makes references to slavery and the monarch’s German ancestry.

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As the footman goes through the number of “British things” that are in fact from abroad, he sings: “Your empire’s built on fighting wars, that’s how your income has swollen. Your British things are from abroad and most are frankly stolen… British things… turns out there’s hardly any.”

‘Anti-British drivel of a high order’

“This is anti-British drivel of a high order,” tweeted Neil of the 2009 song, which was part of an archive selection of Horrible Histories numbers. “Was any of the licence fee used to produce something purely designed to demean us?”

Historian Andrew Roberts was also critical of the 10-minute film describing it as “sneering” and “a stream of bigoted hatred directed against this country”.

Piers Morgan also chimed in about the show, calling it a “shameful abuse of public money”.

But others brushed off the outrage. Author and TV presenter Emma Kennedy tweeted: “Imagine being cross with Horrible Histories though?” while author Matt Haig wrote: “I would just like to thank Horrible Histories for making history my son’s favourite subject. It is one of the best and most irreverent things on telly and it is a national televisual treasure.”

The BBC also defended the show.

“The Horrible Histories video is light-hearted and not anti-British,” a spokesperson told The Observer. “We are a nation, like most others, that enjoys a patchwork of traditions and culture from other countries.

“Our children’s audience are able to take these things as intended.”

The Brexit special was shown on CBBC iPlayer and was also available on YouTube.