A statue of Edward Colston was dumped in Bristol Harbour last summer (Image: GETTY) On Twitter, he commented: “To put the British Empire on a level with the Third Reich is, frankly, disgusting. “An insult both to the victims of the Nazi regime, and to the men of Britain and the Empire who fought and gave their lives to help those victims.” Along with the USA and the Soviet Union the British Empire led the effort to defeat Nazi Germany between 1939 and 1945. Priti Patel says she 'would not take the knee' for BLM India became independent in 1947 along with the new Muslim majority nation of Pakistan.