The article reports criticism of a BBC primary-school resource that described Guy Fawkes as an “astonishing activist” and placed him alongside figures including Nelson Mandela, Emmeline Pankhurst and Rosa Parks. Critics argued that the comparison risks presenting the Gunpowder Plot conspirator too positively, given his role in a plan to kill King James I and destroy Parliament.

The BBC material reportedly grouped Fawkes with people who sought to change the world, rather than directly equating their actions or aims. Fawkes was involved in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, which intended to use explosives beneath the House of Lords; the plot was discovered and he was later executed. The row centres on how schools should explain historical figures whose motives and methods were contentious.