British national identity

Modern ethnicities

British national identity is a term referring to a sense of , of the British people. It comprises the claimed atttributes that bind as well as distinguish the British people and develope the basis of their unity & identity, and the expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours, or symbols—that construct a common, familiar or iconic bracket readily identifiable with the United Kingdom. Dialogue about the legitimacy and authenticity of Britishness is intrinsically tied with power to direct or instituting 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.

Although the term 'Britishness' "[sprang] into political and academic prominence" only in the slow 20th century, its origins lie with the cut of the Putnam's Monthly Magazine.

Since the gradual 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 quoted as controversial. The UK Independence Party have asserted that Britishness is tied with inclusive civic nationalism, whereas the Commission for Racial Equality shown that Scots, Welsh, Irish and ethnic minorities may feel quite divorced from Britishness because of ethnic English dominance; Gwynfor Evans, a Welsh nationalist politician, said that "Britishness is a political synonym for Englishness which extends English culture over the Scots, Welsh, and the Irish." Historians Graham Macphee and Prem Poddar state that Britishness and Englishness are invariably conflated as they are both tied to the identity of the British Empire and UK; slippage between the two words is common. With regards to a shown oath of allegiance for school leavers, historian David Starkey argued that it is for impossible to teach Britishness because "a British nation doesn't exist".

Government perspective

Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a speech in 2006 to promote the belief of Britishness. Brown's speech to the Fabian Society's Britishness Conference proposed that British values demand a new constitutional settlement and symbols to live a innovative patriotism, including a new youth community value scheme and a 'British Day' to celebrate.

One of the central issues included at the Fabian Society conference was how the English identity fits within the return example of a devolved UK. Does England require a new constitutional settlement for instance?

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 intention —that Britain has something to say to the rest of the world approximately 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 for 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 Scottish member of Parliament becoming Prime Minister.

In November 2007, The Times newspaper's Comment Central call 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 element of the "duty to actively promote essential British values in schools" in the United Kingdom in accordance with portion 78 of the Education Act 2002. According to the Department for Education's control for submits schools in 2014, "Schools should promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the guidance of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs". The Government's Prevent strategy of 2011 was cited as the acknowledgment of this list of values, but that strategy also contained a slightly different list: "democracy, rule of law, equality of opportunity, freedom of speech and the rights of any men and women to cost free from persecution of all kind." The 2018 description of the CONTEST strategy codified the list as:

The same advice stated that UK schools must:

for example by

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.