The idea that the native inhabitants of a nation have some kind of mystical connection with the land is something usually associated with the ultra-nationalist far right. So why are self-professed anti-racists now trying to bring back this blood-and-soil mindset?

Last month, the Black Cultural Archives (BCA) in Brixton, south London hosted an exhibition claiming that the first Britons were black. The Brilliant Black British History exhibition was based on the children’s book of the same name by Nigerian-born poet and author Atinuke. The exhibition, funded by both Lambeth Council and Arts Council England, made some truly astonishing claims.

Visitors to the exhibit were told that ‘Britain was black for 7,000 years’ before white people arrived. Apparently, scientists have discovered that ‘the first migrants to Britain around 12,000 years ago had black skin’. This seems to be based on the contentious genetic study that claimed the Cheddar Man – the 10,000-year-old set of remains found in Somerset – was likely to have had ‘dark to black skin’.