What is being British in 2022

What is being British in 2022?

In a literal sense, being British is a legal status of citizenship, given by birth or given after the fulfilment of several conditions including a period of residence and a test. Broadly speaking, to the extent that Britishness is defined, it is defined by the conditions under which citizenship is acquired.  In some ways, feeling British goes far beyond the fanciful stereotype that the British all like tea. The notion of "Britishness" is constantly invested with meaning, and even citizenship can be seen as a casualty, as the Home Secretary's decision to revoke Shamima Begum's citizenship in 2019 shows. Belonging to Britain is invested with particular qualities and expectations by politicians invoking a sense of national unity. This is reflected in explicit policies, with the requirement to teach British values in schools.  Somehow, these values are also evolving. So, let’s see what these values are, how they are changing and what factors are driving them.

First of all, we can say that Britishness is a way of appropriating the values of the country that allow us to pass them on to our successors and it is also a way of sharing values and culture with each other. There are 4 fundamental values. They are there to underline the modernity and diversity of the UK. These values are not just specific to Britain, they are also shared by many other democratic countries, they are there to create a well-functioning society where everyone can feel at home, safe and accepted. The four values mentioned earlier are democracy, the rule of law, respect and tolerance and individual freedom. In my opinion, the most important one is tolerance, which must be respected and embodied by everyone who calls themselves British, this value exists to create an environment free from discrimination and hate. In fact, the term Britishness should not be connoted as segregation or even the blame of minorities, it should be associated to an aspect of integrity and acceptance of all, even with their differences, as long as they have the will to bring positive elements to the country. As Sajid Javid, a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has said, "Britishness is about integration, not segregation".  Tolerance is about understanding and respecting that everyone is free to have their own beliefs and values. This value shows the importance of embracing diversity, the importance of religions, traditions, cultural heritage, but also the importance of fighting against stereotypes, labels, and prejudices.  On the other hand, Britishness also includes another important value, namely democracy. It is a culture based on freedom and equality, where everyone is aware of their rights and responsibilities. This fundamental principle must be applied in all ways of thinking and acting in order to create a just and equal society, full of freedom, which goes hand in hand with individual freedom that protects your rights and preserves equality and human rights.

These fundamental principles that must take place in the education of every British also help to internalize the traditional British aspect, as for instance, the royalty which takes a really important place in the British culture. In fact, given the enormous social change that has taken place since the Queen came to the throne 60 years ago, it may seem surprising that a system of inherited privilege and power has retained its popularity however the Monarch is the 'Head of Nation', they represent the country. The Sovereign acts as a focus for national identity, unity, and pride; gives a sense of stability and continuity; officially recognizes success and excellence; and supports the ideal of voluntary service. Moreover, the British culture is also built on other aspects such as the music with its expansion during the 1960s with the creation of mythical groups like the beatles, pink Floyd that are still listened to as much as before. There’s also the literature part marked by the well-known playwright Shakespeare. Finally, there’s also the sport part, which is a way of expressing their feelings, it’s a great sport-loving country where a lot of sport were born such as football, golf, rugby, tennis, boxing, cricket, horse racing, motor sports. It was also there that the concept of fair play and sportsmanship were first codified.

However, all these values are shaped by many factors such as the economic, social, and political context, the health system, and the social inequalities of the country, which leads them to be in constant evolution. On the political part we have on one hand the withdrawal of Britain from the European union in January 2020. It had a wide range of impacts on people's freedom of movement, trade in goods and services, air, and road transport and also on the energy market. On the other hand, there is the resignation of Liz truss which has shaken the whole country, leaving an economic crisis and a lot of unfunded tax cuts. She wasn’t able to manage the economic and international instability of the country. It crushed the value of the pound and drove up the cost of mortgages, causing economic pain for people and businesses already struggling from an economy yet to emerge from the pain of the pandemic. This resulted in the fear of the citizen who were left with incomprehension and with a blurry vision of the future. On a more recent note, the death of the Queen Elizabeth II has also shattered the entire United Kingdom. It has left a different Britain; this has caused a lot of emotions to many people all over the world but especially the British who are extremely attached to the royal family and more importantly their beloved Queen. During this period of grief, the values are reinforced, showing off the unity of the country. In this tough situation people need to help each other in order to overcome the sadness and to honor properly the Queen. However, even if the fundamental principle can be evolving in the positive way like as in the case where unity appeared between the citizen after the death of the queen, it can also evolve in the negative way as in the case of the social inequalities affecting the tolerance and respect value. In fact, researchers have found that inequalities in the UK are among the worst in the developed world. People experiencing poverty, people with disabilities, black and minority communities and migrants are disproportionately affected by financial hardship. Inequality is an all-embracing term that covers income and wealth, but also race and ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, place of residence, etc. It is measured to show how different people have different life experiences and how problems such as poverty and unemployment are linked to poor health and reduced life expectancy. Income inequality is one of the primary measures of inequality, more than one in five of the UK population are in poverty which equals to 14.5 million people. Poverty was already on the rise before the Covid-19 crisis hit the UK, but the pandemic has worsened existing inequalities in the UK, leading to higher mortality in disadvantaged communities, people of Black, Asian, and other minority ethnic backgrounds are much more likely than white people to face these income, health, and social inequality. Finally, concerning the health system the respective governments of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are each responsible for organizing and delivering health care services, united kingdom’s residents have now been provided with access to a national health service (NHS) based on clinical need, not on the ability to pay. The NHS standardizes the cost of health care in each region of the UK. Many items are free of charge, including prescription drugs for inpatients. The NHS heavily subsidizes other healthcare items, such as braces or wigs for cancer patients. However, the state of the health system is very unstable, concerning applied care, hygiene as well as the lack of doctors and nurses. In fact, the United Kingdom has relatively fewer doctors and nurses, as well as hospital beds and diagnostic equipment, than most other high-income countries.  These shortages have left the country with little spare capacity and vulnerable to severe shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. They have also led to increased waiting lists for non-emergency care, with over 6 million people on a waiting list in 2022 in England alone, these wait times are long enough to impact the patient’s health.

...