National Trust boss received ‘completely bizarre’ death threats over slavery report
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National Trust is launching vast new drive to address the climate and nature crises. The head of the National Trust says she received death threats over a report in which the organisation acknowledged its links to slavery. In 2020, the National Trust – which, as Europe’s largest conservation charity, looks after more than 500 historic properties in the UK – published a report revealing that more than 90 of its properties had links to slavery and colonialism.
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The report sparked a culture wars firestorm, with multiple Tory MPs accusing the trust of following a “woke agenda” and demanding that the culture secretary review its funding. Some people threatened to cancel their memberships in anger. In a new interview done as the trust launches a new 10-year strategy to mark its 130th anniversary, the organisation’s director general Hilary McGrady spoke about death threats she received in relation to the report.
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“I’m from Northern Ireland so most of the time I have perspective, I think, ‘Seriously you’re getting so worked up about this stuff you think this warrants a death threat?’ It’s completely bizarre,” Ms McGrady told The Times. Ms McGrady added: “Some [critics] were saying we shouldn’t say anything about colonial relationships we’ve had in the past. But others said, ‘You’re not doing enough on this, you should be saying more.’”.
While the trust has been no stranger to controversy over the decades, Ms McGrady – who has worked there for 19 years, including seven at its helm – warned that the latest response to the report carried a different edge, despite YouGov’s latest polling suggesting it is among the UK’s 20 most-loved charities.
