MOST of the public think the British Museum should have a permanent display on Britain’s role in the trade of enslaved African people, a new poll has found.

Commissioned by Good Law Project and The World Reimagined (TWR), the report revealed that this view was shared by 53 per cent of respondents – more than double those who felt there was no need.

Another two-thirds agreed the museum has a role in educating the public about Britain’s history in the slave trade.

The study is in support of the launch of the No Room for Slavery campaign by TRW co-founder Michelle Gayle and former Labour candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, which calls for a dedicated exhibit. 

The British Museum’s new director, Nicholas Cullinan, has been tasked with leading a £1 billion overhaul of the institution, which he said would be “a complete holistic transformation, top to bottom, inside out, buildings, collection, visual identity.”

Mr Owusu-Nepaul said: “While Britain’s industrial revolution led the world in technology, transport, and wealth creation, its foundations were inextricably attached to the exploitation of enslaved peoples. 

“The reality of this history is often overlooked in our education system, or public institutions and within our politics, leaving a critical gap when understanding how we all arrived in the society we inhabit today.

“Only in acknowledging our history, warts and all, can we begin to build a society that truly reflects and values the contributions of all.”

Good Law Project’s Harmit Kambo added that if the museum “wants to align with modern public attitudes, its directors should take note of these polling results.”

“While we’ve seen exhibitions which explore Britain’s colonial legacy come and go at the museum, there is a clear need for something permanent and fixed in one place.”

Read the Morning Star’s review of a British Museum exhibition exploring histories of British imperial power here.