Written by
Hardeep Matharu
Hardeep Matharu is the Editor of Byline Times
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‘You See What People Can Do to Other People, People they Lived Side-By-Side With’: Ending the Silence on Partition and Empire
As discussions of Empire and Britain’s imperial history have come to the forefront in 2020, Hardeep Matharu speaks to BBC journalist and author Kavita Puri to explore what she learnt from those who lived through the end of the colonial project in India about divisions tearing societies apart for her book ‘Partition Voices’

Britain’s Descent: Supremacy Not Sovereignty was Always the Dark Heart of Brexit
The central myth of Britain leaving the EU reveals the country’s insecure imperial ambitions and unresolved identity crisis, says Hardeep Matharu

The Powerful Lure of the Soft Fascism Within
Hardeep Matharu with a personal account from the psychological frontline of the culture wars exploring the inner appeal of hate, division and xenophobia

Britain’s Rump Trumpocracy: An Imperial State – Without An Empire
As the US moves away and Brexit crumbles, former Prime Minister John Major has exposed the isolation and colonial nostalgia of Britain, argues Hardeep Matharu

Imperial Amnesia Strikes Back: ‘Racism in America Nothing to do with Us’
In a debate on the UK’s Black History Month, Kemi Badenoch highlighted the Government’s colonial arrogance by deflecting attention and throwing its ‘special’ ally under the bus

Imperial Power & Conservative Taboo: ‘Shutting Down Debate on Empire is Britain’s Ultimate Imperial Legacy’
Following the backlash over a ‘wokeist’ National Trust report on the links of historic buildings to colonialism and slavery, Hardeep Matharu speaks to one of its editors about how the predictable response is itself a hangover from the country’s colonial era

Johnson’s Suggestion that ‘Freedom-Loving’ Britain has a Death Wish May Be his Greatest Insight
With 60,000 people dead from COVID-19, a failing economy, a trashed international reputation, a ‘no deal’ Brexit looming and a second Coronavirus wave, Hardeep Matharu explores whether the Prime Minister is right in declaring that the British public’s own sense of exceptionalism has put the UK on a unique, sadopopulist path

UNCONSCIOUS EMPIRE: Saving ‘Britannia’ and Losing the Plot
Continuing to wage a Steve Bannon-style culture war, Boris Johnson’s Government will do nothing to confront the damaging legacy of our imperial past because its mythologised symbolism is all it has to sell to Brexit Britain, argues Hardeep Matharu
The Cummings Scandal: A Benchmark for Political Impunity
Three months after his breach of lockdown rules came to light, Hardeep Matharu explores the precedent set by the No 10 chief advisor’s callous hoodwinking of the public – a fundamental degrading of democracy that was missed by the Labour Party at a dangerous cost
REFLEXIVE CONTROL: Boris Johnson is Doing Putin’s Job for Him
Hardeep Matharu explores how the Government’s entire approach to the notion of foreign interference and the Russia Report reveals how far it is willing to go to erode the British political system itself
Prince Harry Calls Time on the System of Secrets and Lies Modern Britain is Built On
Comments by the Queen’s grandson on the need to ‘right those wrongs’ from the past across the Commonwealth reveal why he is rebelling against the system that created him
Priti Patel Cannot Make Herself a Poster Girl for a ‘Non-Racist Britain’
By using herself as an example of how Britain is not a racist a country, the Home Secretary is blind to how such thinking keeps structural inequality firmly in place against others from minority communities, writes Hardeep Matharu
Beyond Exceptional: The Etonian English Imperialism at the Heart of a Deadly COVID-19 Crisis
With one of the highest Coronavirus death rates in the world, the UK has proven itself to be exceptional. But its problems go beyond shallow notions of complacency and are rooted in deep-seated structural and cultural oppression
BAME COVID-19 DEATHS: The Coronavirus Might Not Discriminate – But Societies Do
Public Health England's report into risk factors associated with COVID-19 deaths has revealed the structural inequality and poverty endangering lives.
Dominic Cummings’ Biggest Blind Spot is Dominic Cummings
Hardeep Matharu explores why the chief advisor's revelation about his failing eyesight was so revealing – about his lack of self-knowledge and need for reality.