The BBC has provoked outrage by screening an 'anti-British' children's programme on Brexit Day.

Hosted by Left-wing comedian Nish Kumar, Horrible Histories Brexit suggested Britain had historically failed to produce anything of note, relying instead on imports.

Amid a chorus of protest, even one of the BBC's broadcasters launched a stinging attack on the show. Leading political commentator Andrew Neil last night called it 'anti-British drivel of a high order' and asked: 'Was any of the licence fee used to produce something purely designed to demean us?'

Kumar begins by introducing a series of CBBC 'comedy' clips. In one sequence, Queen Victoria is labelled 'foreign' and portrayed as a dullard who is shocked to discover that sugar, tea and cotton do not come from England.

Her manservant performs a song suggesting that Victorians only had access to these goods because of slavery and imperial might. Yet slavery was abolished four years before Victoria came to the Throne.

Hosted by Left-wing comedian Nish Kumar, Horrible Histories Brexit suggested Britain had historically failed to produce anything of note, relying instead on imports

He sings: 'Sugar is Caribbean-imported. For sugar in your cup of tea, slavery's been supported. I know it's wrong, your Majesty, but slaves in Africa worked hard in fields of sugar cane to sweeten up your char.'

The Queen and her servant then sing: 'British things, British things, I thought that they were many. British things, British things, afraid there's hardly any.' The servant then adds: 'Your British things are from abroad and most are frankly stolen.'

The song describes Victoria as 'foreign' and concludes: 'British things, British things, there are none we declare. All our favourite British things seem to come from elsewhere.'

Kumar begins by introducing a series of CBBC 'comedy' clips. In one sequence, Queen Victoria is labelled 'foreign' and portrayed as a dullard who is shocked to discover that sugar, tea and cotton do not come from England

Her manservant performs a song suggesting that Victorians only had access to these goods because of slavery and imperial might. Yet slavery was abolished four years before Victoria came to the Throne

Historian Andrew Roberts described the ten-minute show – released on Friday on BBC iPlayer to coincide with the departure from the European Union – as 'a stream of bigoted hatred directed against this country'.

He added: 'These sneering attitudes to all things British should not be forced down the throats of children by the BBC. It is an attempt to make us despise our ancestors in a purely ahistorical way.'

Kumar, who hosts the comedy satire show The Mash Report on BBC2, begins the show by talking sarcastically about Brexit.

The truth is that we LED the fight against slavery The skit lambasts Britain's role in the slave trade but fails to mention that it was abolished in 1833, four years before Queen Victoria came to the throne. The sketch depicts Victoria in the mourning clothes she wore after Prince Albert's death in 1861 – which suggests she was still consuming slave-produced sugar at least 28 years after the practice was abolished. Of course, British merchants had grown rich on the profits from cruelly shipping African slaves to the Americas, but almost all European colonial nations took part too. In fact, this country was the first nation to abolish slavery, with evangelical campaigners led by William Wilberforce turning public opinion against the trade. 'Let us put an end at once to this inhuman traffic,' Wilberforce begged Parliament. 'Let us stop this effusion of human blood.' Spain and Portugal followed — albeit after being bribed — but France resisted, holding out until 1848. As part of their anti-British propaganda, the Horrible Histories also condemn Britain's colonial rule in India. It is accepted that the partition of the Raj last century was a colossal human tragedy stained with blood, but the early colonialists were considered by some as humane men. The respected historian Lawrence James has said: 'On balance, the British Empire was a force for good and should be a source of national pride. It provided an interlude of stability in which countries divided by race and religion could develop and, in the case of India, discover a national identity.' The Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron seized roughly 1,600 slave ships and freed 150,000 Africans. Britain also used its influence to force other countries to agree to end their slave trades and allow the Navy to seize their slave ships. Victoria herself forged a close relationship with an Indian attendant called Mohammed Abdul Karim for the final 14 years of her reign. The friendship between Karim and the Queen led to friction within the Royal Household, whose members thought the relationship was inappropriate. But the Queen insisted on taking Karim with her on her travels and described him as 'a real comfort to me'. Advertisement

In a mocking tone, he says: 'Here we are on the verge of Brexit. The UK is leaving the European Union. You might not have heard much about it because things have been so quick and so smooth. I mean, if anything, it's going too well.

'I thought as we stand on the verge of this historic moment we would look back at what Europe has done for us.'

The film also features comedy sketches about several European nations, including France, Germany and Italy.

Mr Roberts, the author of Churchill: Walking With Destiny, said: 'No one has ever suggested that sugar, cotton and tea were grown domestically. The idea that there are hardly any British things ignores the Industrial Revolution, the English language which is spoken in the Caribbean and India, English common law which is practised in the Caribbean and India and the abolition of the slave trade four years before Queen Victoria came to the Throne.'

The row came as a BBC reporter faced criticism for describing the Brexit crowds celebrating in London on Friday night as 'very white'.

Geeta Guru-Murthy, whose younger brother is Channel 4 presenter Krishnan, told one Brexit supporter: 'It's a very white crowd mostly.' Twitter users said Guru-Murthy should be sacked for her comments, while many Asian and black Brexit supporters who had celebrated in Westminster posted selfies on Twitter. One wrote: 'The BBC are racist against white people.' Another said: 'Just a group of 'white racists' celebrating Brexit last night... Oh wait, Brexit doesn't make you white or racist. If only the BBC and Channel 4 knew this.'

Channel 4 news presenter Jon Snow faced similar uproar last year when he said on air that he had 'never seen so many white people' at a pro-Brexit rally.

Of the Horrible Histories film, Mail on Sunday columnist Piers Morgan said on Twitter: 'Why is the BBC paying nasty pieces of work like Kumar to trash Britain like this? An outrageous and shameful abuse of public money.'

Former MP Douglas Carswell wrote: 'The crassness of this BBC children's clip is remarkable. The slave trade was made illegal before Victoria became Queen. Her governments went to great lengths to stamp it out. Brits had access to tea and sugar due to free trade. Buying imports is not un-British.'

Several BBC critics last night claimed the sketch featuring Queen Victoria, which was previously broadcast in 2009, bordered on racist because it claimed that people, goods and traditions from elsewhere could never be British.

One viewer said: 'Anti-British propaganda like this has led people to stop paying their licence fee.'

James Cleverly, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, said: 'Are Nish and the Horrible Histories Team saying that no matter for how long and how intimately things are part of mainstream life, they aren't really British if they originated overseas? Sounds a lot like the argument made by the BNP about people like me. And Nish.'

Oscar winner Lord Fellowes, who wrote the screenplay to the film Young Victoria, said: 'It's pretty rough involving Queen Victoria in the slavery argument. Slavery had been ruled illegal in Britain in the 1770s and it was abolished in the colonies in 1833.'

Daisy Goodwin, the screenwriter for television drama Victoria, also raised concerns about her portrayal.

She said: 'He [Nish] is completely right to point out that the British Empire was based on the exploitation of other people... but I think it's a bit unfair on Queen Victoria who was neither racist nor stupid.'

The video received mixed reaction on Twitter with some saying it was accurate and others criticising the BBC

The BBC defended the show, saying: 'The Horrible Histories video is light-hearted and not anti-British. We are a nation, like most others, that enjoy a patchwork of traditions and culture from other countries. Our children's audience are able to take these things as intended.

'Horrible Histories takes historical accuracy incredibly seriously. Many goods common in Britain during the Victorian era were harvested or produced by slaves in other countries – even though Britain abolished the slave trade before Victoria became Queen.'

The row comes as the BBC is at loggerheads with the Government over alleged bias in its Brexit coverage. In protest, Ministers are refusing to take part in programmes, including Radio 4's Today programme and Newsnight.

Meanwhile, the BBC's Ten O'Clock News coverage of the moment of departure at 11pm on Friday infuriated many viewers, who considered it negative and pre-occupied with the concerns of Remain supporters.

One viewer wrote: 'Anyone else think that the coverage of the Brexit Day celebrations was a bit like them covering the FA Cup final and then showing the losing captain, team and fans being interviewed in preference to the winning side?'

A BBC spokesman said: 'We think our coverage gave a good overall picture of events.'