Oliver Dowden, the culture secretary, is to lead a roundtable discussion with two dozen heritage and culture bodies, including the National Trust, Historic England, the British Museum and other museums and galleries to discuss the Woke issue. Dowden has sent the institutions a letter saying countries should not “run from or airbrush the history upon which they are founded”. A source from his department said Dowden was trying to “defend our culture and history from the noisy minority of activists constantly trying to do Britain down”.