The New Statesman Profile picture
Mar 24, 2022 13 tweets 5 min read Read on X
National character is a slippery eel; the moment you think you have a grip on it, it’s gone. Its essence is fleeting; its shape shifts ­constantly and yet you know it when you see it, even if each person sees something different.
newstatesman.com/politics/a-dre…
That is true of all nations and yet feels particularly true of Britain.
In the absence of a constitution or a bill of rights we have no foundational documents to refer to, beyond the Magna Carta, which was not even written in English.
For all the ways in which nationalism is central to what both ails and animates us, from hooliganism to Brexit, it is curiously devoid of purpose or intent.
It speaks to the present only in passing and is so obsessed with the past that it completely eschews the future.
The managed decline of empire has been accompanied by a managed orderly denial of what the empire was and did. This process took place with indecent haste.
A 2020 YouGov poll ­reveals that one in three Britons think the empire is something to be proud of, while just one in five think it is something to be ashamed of.
This, in no small part, is why the Second World War lurks so large in the popular imagination.

We are great, goes the logic, because we were once better.
British identity has no lodestar; it is grounded in no principle; put bluntly it has no point beyond its own self-assertion.

National stories rooted in themes such as freedom, equality of opportunity, reinvention and solidarity clearly have staying power.
In the US more than 80 per cent of people believe they have either achieved the American Dream or are on their way to achieving it; in France an appeal to the values of the Republic remain central to any successful electoral campaign.
That Britain does not draw on similar narratives, though, reflects a strength of sorts. These defining national stories are generally necessitated by some kind of rupture, such as a revolution, which demands an articulation of what the nation stands against.
Britain, as a whole, never had those ruptures. It was not made, but emerged as the messy product of Roman, Viking and Norman invasions, regional fiefdoms and monarchist pretensions, and keeps muddling on, in relative stability and episodic dysfunction.
This, ultimately, is what Britain’s political culture lacks: not so much an ideal or a dream, but a set of principles that could apply to a common future; the idea that Britain stands for something more than posterity and itself.

newstatesman.com/politics/a-dre…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with The New Statesman

The New Statesman Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @NewStatesman

Mar 18
🧵 The powerful closing paragraphs of @Anoosh_C's story, Bust Britain. 🧵Image
“Collapsing councils are a microcosm of the British state’s failings: austerity, short-termism, Treasury myopia and decades of failure to solve the so-called wicked problems of policymaking, such as council tax, planning and our broken social care model. Every block in the Jenga tower appears to be wobbling.
“The NHS is stuck with one in ten jobs vacant, crumbling buildings and equipment, strikes and poor patient outcomes. Welfare is no longer acting as a safety net: the UK now has record levels of long-term sickness at 2.8 million and a system too threadbare to propel people back into work. So depleted are our armed forces that military chiefs mull the return of conscription. Police fail to solve 90 per cent of crimes. And best of luck to anyone who encounters a prison or courtroom.
Read 8 tweets
Feb 9, 2023
The two earthquakes that hit Turkey’s south-east region on 6 February were only one part of an unfolding tragedy.

@ETemelkuran explains why.

Thread ⬇️
newstatesman.com/world/2023/02/…
The people of Turkey are torn between the pain caused by a natural disaster and their rightful anger at the shamelessness of a corrupt regime.
The growing death toll, the incredible damage and the astonishing lack of aid cannot be explained by the scale of the disaster alone.
Read 8 tweets
Feb 8, 2023
Is it last orders for the Great British curry house?

@sajeraj reveals how workforce shortages are hurting the UK's Indian restaurants.

Thread ⬇️
newstatesman.com/spotlight/skil…
Today the £4.2bn industry as a whole is in labour crisis.

In recent decades, the children and grandchildren of pioneering Bengali restaurateurs have opted not to join the family business, going instead into professional jobs supported by access to university.
The steady stream of migrants looking to start out in the kitchen and build a successful restaurant has slowed to a trickle, too.

In 2007, 12,000 Indian restaurants were open across the UK. Today there are only 8,500 – and more are closing every week, according to the industry.
Read 8 tweets
Feb 7, 2023
Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle won’t revive his political fortunes.

@REWearmouth explains why.

Thread ⬇️
newstatesman.com/politics/conse…
What does the reshuffle tell us about the Prime Minister?

Sunak’s hand was forced as he could no longer delay the appointment of a new party chairman.
He has tried to turn Zahawi’s sacking to his advantage by framing the reshuffle as a “100-day reset” of his government, which is mired in crisis due to strikes, scandals and the squeeze on living standards.
Read 6 tweets
Jan 25, 2023
Ukraine’s national security adviser, @OleksiyDanilov, speaks to @MacaesBruno about German betrayal, the coming Russian onslaught and why the West is scared.

Read more ⬇️
Danilov shared his thoughts on Germany’s refusal to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Kyiv, who might eventually replace Vladimir Putin and why Russia wants a ­“Korean solution” to end the war.
He also spoke about the helicopter crash in Brovary, Ukraine, on 18 January – in which 14 people died, including Ukraine’s interior affairs ­minister – and whether Russia was responsible.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 25, 2023
"Yet another vital service on its knees after 13 years of Tory government" - Keir Starmer

Follow this thread for video updates from #PMQs
"Is he starting to wonder that this job is just too big for him?"

Keir Starmer accuses Rishi Sunak of being "hopelessly weak" in #PMQs.
Stephen Flynn asks Rishi Sunak for advice on protecting personal finances:

Should people "seek out a future chair of the BBC to help secure an £800,000 loan"?

Should they "set up a trust in Gibraltar"?

Or should they apply for "non-dom status"?

#PMQs
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(