From that article (since I've not seen the proposed content), I can see the reason for the discomfort.
I do think that history education can be improved, both British history and World History, and I agree with the people in the article about narrative history as a preferred method. There is a lot of history that is missed which is a pity as it colours people's view of the world and themselves. But the idea of portraying any country as 'a beacon of liberty' sounds like a whitewashing to me, both the positives and the negatives need to be talked about. It also sounds like he's trying to take another American idea and put it on the UK (I grew up in the States and had the misfortune of the US history textbooks which are mostly written from the 'US as beacon of liberty' perspective).