British national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions,[ It comprises the claimed qualities that bind and distinguish the British people and form the basis of their unity and identity, and the expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours, or symbols—that have a common, familiar or iconic quality readily identifiable with the United Kingdom. Dialogue about the legitimacy and authenticity of Britishness is intrinsically tied with power relations and politics; in terms of nationhood and belonging, expressing or recognising one's Britishness provokes a range of responses and attitudes, such as advocacy, indifference, or rejection.
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Although the term 'Britishness' "sprang into political and academic prominence" only in the late 20th century, its origins lie with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. It was used with reference to Britons collectively as early as 1682,[
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Since the late 20th century, the exploration and proliferation of Britishness became directly associated with a desire to define, sustain or restore a homogeneous British identity or allegiance to Britain, prompting debate. For instance, the Life in the United Kingdom test—reported as a test of one's Britishness—has been described as controversial.[ What is Britishness anyway? BBC News, 10 September 2002] The UK Independence Party have asserted that Britishness is tied with inclusive civic nationalism,[ Can pupils learn 'Britishness'? BBC News, 12 October 2007]
Government perspective
Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a speech in 2006 to promote the idea of Britishness.[ Brown speech promotes Britishness BBC News, 14 January 2006.] Brown's speech to the Fabian Society's Britishness Conference proposed that British values demand a new constitutional settlement and symbols to represent a modern patriotism, including a new youth community service scheme and a 'British Day' to celebrate.[ Fabian Society, 14 January 2006]
One of the central issues identified at the Fabian Society conference was how the English identity fits within the framework of a devolved UK. Does England require a new constitutional settlement for instance?[ Fabian Society, 14 January 2006]
The British government has sought to promote Britishness with the inaugural Veterans' Day (now called Armed Forces Day), first held on 27 June 2006. As well as celebrating the achievements of members of the armed forces, at the first event for the celebration Brown said:
Scots and people from the rest of the UK share the purpose —that Britain has something to say to the rest of the world about the values of freedom, democracy, and the dignity of the people that you stand up for. So at a time when people can talk about football and devolution and money, it is important that we also remember the values that we share in common.
Critics have argued that Brown's sudden interest in the subject had more to do with countering English opposition to a Scotland Member of Parliament becoming prime minister.
In November 2007, The Times newspaper's Comment Central asked readers to define Britishness in five little words. The winning suggestion was "No motto please, we're British".
A duty to promote democracy forms a key part of the "duty to actively promote fundamental British values in schools" in the United Kingdom in accordance with section 78 of the Education Act 2002. According to the Department for Education's advice for maintained schools in 2014, "Schools should promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".
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the rule of law
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individual liberty
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democracy
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mutual respect, tolerance and understanding of different faiths and beliefs.
The same advice stated that UK schools must:
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encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes
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ensure an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
for example by
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including in suitable parts of the curriculum, as appropriate for the age of pupils, material on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries;
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ensuring that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes, such as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils.
[Department for Education, Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools, November 2014]
After the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom in 2020, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a special address that listed "the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling" as characteristic of Britain.
Ethnicity and social trends
Due to immigration from other countries, not all people residing in England and the United Kingdom are White people. According to the 2011 census in England, around 85.4% of residents are White (British, Irish, other European), 7.8% Asian (mainly ), 3.5% Black, 2.3% are of mixed-race heritage, 0.4% Arab, and 0.6% identified as Other ethnicity, with a significantly higher non-white population in large cities such as London.
A survey conducted in 2007 found that the majority of people in many non-white ethnic minority groups living in Great Britain described their national identity as British, English, Scottish or Welsh. This included almost nine in ten (87%) of people with mixed heritage, 85% of Black Caribbean people, 80% of Pakistanis and 78% of Bangladeshis. Non-whites were more likely to describe themselves as British than whites. One-third of people from the White British group described themselves as British; the remaining two-thirds of respondents identified themselves as English people, Welsh, or Scottish ethnic groups.[ Office for National Statistics, Social Trends No.39, 2009.]
A study conducted for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in 2005 found that, in England, the majority of ethnic minority participants identified primarily as British, whereas ethnic English participants identified as English first and British second. In Wales and Scotland, the majority of both white and ethnic minority participants identified as Welsh or Scottish first and British second, although they saw no incompatibility between the two identities. Other research conducted for the CRE found that white participants felt that there was a threat to Britishness from large-scale immigration, the "unfair" claims that they perceived ethnic minorities made on the welfare state, a rise in Value pluralism, and political correctness. Much of this frustration was found to be targeted at Muslims rather than minorities in general. Muslim participants in the study reported feeling victimised and stated that they felt that they were being asked to choose between Muslim and British identities, whereas they saw it possible to be both at the same time.
Within the United Kingdom
England
Scotland
There is evidence that Scottish people are increasingly likely to describe themselves as Scottish, and less likely to say they are British. A 2006 study by social scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh, Dundee, St Andrews and Lancaster shows that more than eight out of ten people in Scotland saw themselves as Scottish. At the same time, there has been a long-term decline in Scots defining themselves as British, although more than half of the people in the survey saw themselves as British.
In the 2011 Census in Scotland:
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62% identified themselves as Scottish only
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18% identified themselves as Scottish and British
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8% identified themselves as British only
In the 2021 Census in Scotland:
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65.5% identified themselves as Scottish only
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8.2% identified themselves as Scottish and British
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13.9% identified themselves as British only
The Scottish National Party MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill gave the following submission to the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights in March 2008 discussing a British Bill of Rights:
What is meant by Britishness? Is there a concept of Britishness? Yes, just as there is a concept of being Scandinavian. We eat fish and chips, we eat chicken masala, we watch EastEnders. Are the British? No, we are not. We consider ourselves Scottish.[Joint Committee on Human Rights, A Bill of Rights for the UK?, Twenty-ninth Report of Session 2007–08, Ev. 61, Q290]
Wales
Similar to Scotland, results from the Annual Population Survey (APS) conducted by the Office for National Statistics, show that the majority of people residing in Wales describe themselves as Welsh people.
Identity and politics
In a 1998 poll, 37% of Scottish National Party voters stated themselves to be "Scottish, not British", the rest demonstrating some form of British identity, with the most popular choice being "More Scottish than British" (41%).
See also
Bibliography
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Banerjee, Sukanya. Becoming Imperial Citizens: Indians in the Late-Victorian Empire (Duke University Press, 2010)).
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Bell, Duncan. The idea of greater Britain: empire and the future of world order, 1860-1900 (Princeton University Press, 2010).
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Belmessous, Sahila. Assimilation and Empire (Oxford University Press, 2013)
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Bradley, Ian C. Believing in Britain: the spiritual identity of 'Britishness' (Oxford: Lion, 2008).
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Harrington, Jack. "The Imperial Citizen: British India and French Algeria." in Citizenship after Orientalism: Transforming Political Theory (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015) pp.53-69. online
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Harrington, Jack. "Orientalism, political subjectivity and the birth of citizenship between 1780 and 1830." Citizenship After Orientalism (Routledge, 2015). 11-24.
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Knaur, Krzysztof, ed. Britishness and cultural studies : continuity and change in narrating the nation (2000) online
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Kong, Vivian. Multiracial Britishness: Global Networks in Hong Kong, 1910–45 (Cambridge University Press, 2023) online review of this book
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Maclean, Kama. British India, White Australia: Overseas Indians, Intercolonial Relations, and the Empire (Sydney: NewSouth, 2020)
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Modood, Tariq, and John Salt, eds. Global migration, ethnicity and Britishness (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) online
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Shilliam, Robert. “Ethiopianism, Englishness, Britishness: Struggles over Imperial Belonging,” Citizenship Studies 20#2 (2016): 243-59
External links
