"We go around the world nicking other people’s stuff. What the fuck do we have to be proud of?"
As a well-known up and coming journalist, I research these articles thoroughly before hitting the submit button. Rest assured, dear reader, that these blogs are the result of literally minutes of hard work. So when I read over the weekend that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown had called for a new national holiday to celebrate Britishness, I resolved to canvas opinion among Britishers about this proposal.
Locating said people proved surprisingly simple, living as I do in Britain. In my entirely scientific survey of the three Englishmen with whom I happened to be having coffee this morning, I found 100% rejection of Brown’s proposal , including the rather astute summary of British history quoted above. I can thus exclusively reveal that Gordon’s idea of a Britain Day has proved about as popular as a fart in a crowded lift.
Why is this the case? Well fundamentally, the British are not the overly-demonstrative, flag-waving sort. Nearly a millennium without being invaded by a foreign power gives the British a refreshingly detached attitude to issues of nationality. Of course, there are still those for whom Britishness is very important, not least the pond-life of the British National Party (BNP). In proposing a Britain Day, Brown was trying to liberate the Union flag from the clutches of the far right, which is in itself a good thing. But still I feel that a government-led celebration of Britishness is not the answer.
This is not to say that the British have nothing to celebrate. The people of this country have much of which to be proud, not least their marked tolerance of people from other cultures and backgrounds. Mixed-race friendships and relationships are common in Britain without the stigma which attaches to them in other countries. This is not to say that all is sweetness and light, but compared to other western countries, Britain seems to be doing quite well. Witness France, where not a single member of the National Assembly is black or Arab. Or America where, when the shit hits the fan, the overwhelmingly non-white poor are left to drown. Or Germany, where millions of Turks live as non-citizens in the country of their birth.
There are I would suggest two reasons that Britain has integrated immigrants better than other western countries, and both have relevance to Brown’s proposed Britain Day. Firstly, integration of different peoples is nothing new to Britain. The country itself is made up of three constituent nations, the Scots, Welsh and English. Over the years Irish, Poles, Jews, blacks, south Asians, Arabs etc. have been added, each of them making Britain a little more diverse. Their integration has been aided by the fact that no native Briton could ever hark back to some mono-cultural golden age.
And here we meet the first problem with Brown’s British Day, what we might call the Celtic objection. Any Britain Day would inevitably be celebrated with more gusto in England than in the Celtic nations. This would create a vicious circle whereby, the less the Scots mad Welsh joined in the event, the less they would feel welcome to join in.
The idea of Scottish or Welsh separation is now fairly peripheral, its sting drawn by devolution. Few Celts would reject the concept of Britain outright. Equally though, few Scots or Welsh would put their British identity above that of their own nation. Most Scots and Welsh wear a light jacket of Britishness over the heavy Arran sweater of Scottishness or Welshness.
The second reason I believe that Britain has integrated new arrivals more successfully than other countries is because it asks little of them. As an immigrant in this country, I find it refreshing that Britain does not demand that I choose between the country of my birth and that of my residence. As long as I abide by the laws ofd this country, I am left to my own devices. I am not expected to salute the Union flag or pledge allegiance to that German woman with the dysfunctional family.
So we reach the second problem with Brown’s proposal, what might be called a little clumsily the Ethnic objection. Many immigrants would have trouble embracing British symbols in an overly-demonstrative way. For those who were once colonial subjects, the Union flag is inevitably a symbol with negative connotations. Rather than undermine the far right, is it not possible that Britain Day would actually embolden them to conduct a witch-hunt against those who were reluctant to join in the "festivities"?
Instead of creating a new holiday, it would be preferable to encourage English, Scots and Welsh to celebrate their existing national days, to take time to celebrate their own identities and their considerable contributions to the world. Of course those who don’t want to join in shouldn’t be compelled to do so. That just wouldn’t be cricket, old boy.