British Values.
This is a phrase that I have been hearing for my entire life, from my early days in primary school in the mid noughties through to my work in politics today. If you’re a zoomer like me, you’ll remember seeing things like this and this at school. It’s a concept that is invoked by people on all sides of the political discourse – but what does it actually mean? Where does it come from? And why does our governing class insist on forcing it upon us at every opportunity?
The concept of “British Values” entered public discourse under New Labour, amid growing debates around British national identity due to policies like mass immigration and multiculturalism. Following ethnically-fueled riots in Bradford, Harehills, and Oldham in 2001, prime minister Tony Blair appealed to the concept of shared values in an attempt to ease tensions. A decade later, under David Cameron’s coalition government, similar riots swept across the nation. In the aftermath, Prevent’s counter-extremism strategy officially codified the concept of "British Values” as “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”. By 2014, as fears of around radical Islam grew, Education Secretary Michael Gove mandated that all schools teach these values in the classroom
So you see, the concept of “British Values” was born in the flames of ethnic conflict, manufactured to resolve the contradictions inherent in the ideological project of multiculturalism. It is a political construct designed to transform Britishness from an historic, traditional identity rooted in shared ancestry, culture, and heritage into a civic proposition – a costume that can be put on by anyone from anywhere.
It’s incredibly insulting and demoralising to see our national identity reduced to a fashionable four-point political doctrine, something that could be taught from a PowerPoint in a corporate seminar. In the name of progress and tolerance, they have turned British identity into something shallow, interchangeable, and devoid of spiritual, aesthetic, and cultural content. In other words, they have turned it into something that is impossible to love or feel proud of. And we wonder why so many of our people feel so deracinated and without a sense of purpose or belonging.
If we are to believe that we are governed in accordance with these state-sanctioned British values, then they are defined in a truly Orwellian way. “Democracy” means rule by a sprawling, labyrinthine state that implements the consensus of the international managerial class regardless of which public-facing figureheads we vote for. The “the rule of law”, means living under a justice system that demonstrably and consistently favours some groups over others. “Individual liberty” means compelling one person to validate the mental illness of another. “Mutual respect and tolerance of other faiths and beliefs” means covering up the crimes of foreigners for fear of being called racist.
But let’s take the most charitable definitions of these values – they still do not capture what it means to be British. I, for example, have reservations about the kind of democracy we have in Britain, because look at the calibre of leader it selects for. I believe that individual liberty is a false god, tending inevitably towards atomisation and moral degradation. I believe tolerance of different faiths and beliefs is, at this point, civilisational suicide. Does that mean that I am some kind of extremist, or, moreover, that I am not even British? I, whose family has resided in these isles stretching back into the mists of time? I, who can’t imagine living and raising a family anywhere else? I, who would die for this country if it came to it?
The point that I am driving at here is that British identity is not defined by values alone. This is not to say that the British people do not have a national character – of course we do. We are a people who value proprietary, discipline, standards, integrity, resilience, good humour, good manners, hard work, and the pursuit of excellence – but these are a consequence, not the cause, of our being a great and noble people. The unique conditions and history of the British Isles have produced a ferocious yet temperate, hardy yet warm, and just yet merciful people who brought civilisation to all corners of the Earth and birthed much of what we enjoy in the modern world today.
But when all is said and done, Britain is not just an idea. Britain is not just playing cricket, drinking tea, eating fish and chips, and complaining about the weather. Britain is not just democracy and tolerance. Britain is you. Britain is me. It’s everyone who has come before us and everyone who will follow. It’s these isles and all of their children. It’s everything this flag represents: the English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish, all led by the principles of Christianity – because let’s not forget where each of those crosses come from.
If Britain is to survive, we must move beyond the language of values. Our values are great, but they are not what we are ultimately fighting for. We are fighting for the British people, our history, our lifestyle, and our right to a secure, sovereign ancestral homeland where we can pursue our own destiny in peace.
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