The Trojan Horse Affair and the coloniality of ‘British values’

British values were formally defined and institutionalised in the aftermath of the Trojan Horse Affair in 2014 and as part of the UK’s counterterrorism strategy. In this article, I analyse the idea of “British values” as an element of coloniality and ask why the UK’s counterterrorism rhetoric, of which Prevent is a part, is centred on the concept of “British values”. The article shows how the discourse, and the promotion of British values, serves as a securitising and categorising agent which essentialises specific groups of people. In the contemporary context, this affects Muslims in particular, who are constructed as “other” and naturally hostile to or incompatible with British values. It argues that the rhetoric of the concept of “British values” and its application has been used as a form of distinction, not just today but also historically; this distinction has been built on colonialism and is sustained through coloniality. Through “British values”, the civilising mission lives on within the UK’s counterterrorism strategy and within Prevent more specifically.