No. 157 - On 'Being British'
Dear James,
‘I’m British’. It used to be a phrase, quietly admitted, proudly borne, combining an understated emotional confidence and a supporting mindset - a kind of self-deprocating culture of ’self-possession'. Even when that culture is divided into its myriad of sub-cultures, counter-cultures and pop cultures, the nation still shares a lot in common. For example, we share a common language even if ours is simultaneously divisive – remember George Bernard Shaw’s comments that “it is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman despise him”? But there are other unifying factors too. We share a generally common view of our historical narrative. If we ignore the injustices we did as colonial masters - a big ‘if’, I know - we share the British instinct for fairness, the toleration of other opinions and the need to be kind when we disagree. It includes responsibility for both personal behaviours and the seriousness of those charged with affairs of state. At the very core of this culture has been the abhorrence of lying and dishonesty and the key value of personal integrity. Yet for many years this culture, courtesy of the Brexiteers, has been changing. It is now in crisis. Now, I for one, hesitate before admitting that I’m British.
Much of the rest of the world now look upon us like anxious relatives watching a once admired uncle in the first stages of dementia. ’What’s wrong with Britain?’, ‘How did they get into this state?” Failing with Coronavirus, struggling with an endemic race problem, flogging a warped sense of self-importance and exceptionalism and now abandoning Europe for a lonely existence in the mid-Atlantic, Britain seems to have lost the plot. Worse than that though, is the perception that the British have given up on their core values. They seem no longer to pursue truth and are demonstrating an incompetence in government unseen since the 1970s. Add to that the crisis of our historical narrative due to our rediscovery that many of our great names and great houses are based upon slavery and we have the perfect recipe for a nervous breakdown of national proportions.
But, for the moment, let’s ‘keep calm’ and attempt to be British as we once knew it. Let’s be fair and give Boris and Cummings the benefit of the doubt. No government has ever had to face a peacetime calamity the size of Coronavirus. There is no doubt about it, our government was hit by the mother of all crises.Yet it is precisely this crisis that has revealed the fundamental weakness and chaos of Boris’s government. Both are creatures of their time. Both operate on brand and image whereas real government depends upon understanding complexity rather than creating endless sound bites. Simultaneously denying early warnings of the virus, Boris and Cummings have boosted and boasted about everything from ‘World beating apps’, ‘world class testing and tracing’ and ‘the right actions at the right time’. The list goes on and on. Yet at the moment, the UK, with 60,000 excess deaths is the worst performer in Europe and third in the world. We now know what ‘world beating’ meant!
While Boris huddled and muddled in March and April, ‘Aggressive Containment’ was the name of the game for New Zealand and S. Korea. What we needed was leadership and that we did not get. Boris is a cheerleader not a real leader and he was out of his depth working with an expert panel (SAGE) which tended towards group think. He is the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time no matter how hard he tries to kid us all that he is Churchill reborn. Characterised by indecisiveness, u-turns, z-turns, w-turns and handbrake turns, your government is paranoid, hides uncomfortable reports and has had to endure the humiliation of Marcus Rashford, a Manchester United soccer star, dictating government policy.
But panic not, James, Boris still has one thing going for him. The British, especially the older amongst us, are still bemused by class. And Boris, when unhindered by democratic scrutiny, plays the game well. He has the self-assurance, the accent, the thin crust of patrician panache that appeals to his base. So help is at hand for your beleaguered band of brothers and sisters and very soon, Brexit, that nostalgic counter-culture that has managed to hi-jack our nation via our outdated voting system, will return to temporarily reinvigorate your sorry band.
We are so much better than this James. Unfortunately it will take a few more years of misgovernment to finally prove to us the error of our ways. One day I want to be able to say ‘I’m British’ again with pride. It will take time, but patience is another British cultural trait of which I am proud. How about you James?
Kind regards,
BH – Your Concerned Constituent