For us in the Caribbean, there is something surreal(超现实的；离奇的) about Britain’s renewed nostalgia(怀旧；念旧) over empire. As Britain’s monarch prepares to visit the Caribbean, and at a time when we in the former colonies are demanding to have a serious reckoning with slavery and reparations, UK politicians are invoking a dumbed-down distortion(被简化歪曲的版本) of history.
对我们加勒比人来说，英国重新燃起的帝国怀旧情绪显得有些不真实。就在英国君主准备访问加勒比之际，就在我们这些前殖民地民众要求认真清算奴隶制和赔偿问题之时，英国政客却在搬弄一套被简化歪曲的历史。
Rewriting the facts: the Reform MP Robert Jenrick has argued that colonies owed Britain a “debt of gratitude(感恩债；人情债)” for the institutions empire bequeath(遗留；遗赠)ed them. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former minister in a Conservative government, has described British colonialism as “one of the greatest civilising(文明化的；开化的), prosperity(繁荣；富裕)-creating forces the world has ever seen”. The opposition leader, Kemi Badenoch, has dispute(质疑；对……提出异议)d colonialism’s contribution to Britain’s prosperity. Then there is Suella Braverman. The Reform MP suggested in July that rather than Britain paying reparations, former colonies should repay Britain for the investment and infrastructure provided under empire. This prompted Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, to call that proposition “asinine(愚蠢的；荒唐的)”. At best it is historical amnesia(失忆；遗忘). At its worse it is an insidious(阴险的；暗中为害的) misrepresentation of facts.
改写事实：改革党议员罗伯特·詹里克声称，殖民地欠英国一笔“感恩债”，因为帝国给它们留下了制度。保守党政府前部长雅各布·里斯-莫格把英国殖民主义描述为“世界所见最伟大的文明与繁荣缔造力量之一”。反对党领袖凯米·巴德诺赫则质疑殖民主义对英国繁荣的贡献。还有苏埃拉·布雷弗曼。这位改革党议员今年7月提出，与其让英国支付赔偿，不如让前殖民地偿还英国在帝国时期提供的投资和基础设施。这番言论促使巴巴多斯总理米娅·莫特利称该提议“愚蠢至极”。往好里说，这是历史失忆；往坏里说，这是对事实的阴险歪曲。
The question from a global development perspective(从全球发展视角看) is: who developed whom? We can ask Eric Williams(特立尼达历史学家、首任总理，著有《资本主义与奴隶制》), Walter Rodney(圭亚那历史学家，著有《欧洲如何使非洲欠发达》), George Padmore(泛非主义理论家，加勒比反殖民运动重要人物) or generations of African, Caribbean and Indian scholars. But there is one inconvenient witness that stands as a testimony to the truth. Winston Churchill.
从全球发展的角度看，问题是：谁发展了谁？我们可以去问埃里克·威廉斯、沃尔特·罗德尼、乔治·帕德莫尔，或者几代非洲、加勒比和印度学者。但有一个不方便的证人，他的证词就是真相的见证。温斯顿·丘吉尔。