"The history of postwar British politics is, in many ways, a history of these two interpretations" of World War Two. Thoughful article by @kitkowol on why Britain keeps arguing over the lessons of the Second World War. theconversation.com/britains-obses…
As @KitKowol argues, WW2 saw the birth of a new national project, centring on a national economy & nationalised industries, in place of the globalised, imperial system of the pre-war era. WW2 became the founding myth & justification for different visions of what "Britain" shd be. 
That raises an important q, that's also addressed in @DEHEdgerton's "The Rise & Fall of the British Nation". Now that those nationalised industries have been dismantled & the economy re-globalised, what common purpose - beyond the memory of WW2 - still holds "Britain" together?
The NHS is perhaps the last survivor of that post-war nation-building project. It remains the closest thing Britain has to a national religion. But it's being asked to do a lot of heavy lifting as a focal point for national identity, esp. as health systems across the UK diverge.
