By Tom Fowdy
One of the most distinguishable hallmarks about the British Empire, and the United Kingdom in general, is how it at large transcended ethnic lines and created a universalist national identity that was premised on values and culture, as opposed to blood and soil. The premise of an inclusive "British" identity had been formed by the fact that the UK was a constitutional union of two states, Scotland and England, and thus bypassed the modern "nation state" formula that one country was defined solely by one people.
Thus, while historical adversaries such as Germany developed these uncompromising "nation state" identities, to great devastation, Britain and its empire (and we can mention the French Republic too) were distinctly different because they advocated a civilizing mission that believed that it could incorporate other ethnic identities into its own national, value-centric umbrella. Being British was elitist, of course, and while we should not discount the racism and colonial mentality that shaped it, its focus was on its belief that its culture was a form of enlightenment as opposed to ethnic supremacy.
Thus, it has been a consensus that the British Empire was not truly evil in the way Nazi Germany was. Instead, Britain's multi-ethnic dominion influenced its understanding of citizenship, which paved the way for people from the Indian Subcontinent, the West Indies, Hong Kong, and other locations to come, not as "strangers" (at least in theory) but as a part of what Queen Elizabeth II described in her earliest days as "our Imperial family." Thus, the universalist identity of "Britishness" laid the foundations for the acceptance of a multi-ethnic Britain from the latter half of the 20th century going forwards.
But the world has changed. The sun has set on the British Empire, and ethnic change in the country, juxtaposed with a largely stagnant economy, has reawakened a sentiment that, amidst the official identity of "Britishness", dwells beneath the surface: English nationalism. Identities are never absolute and are very much relative to the social and material circumstances which influence them. If "Britishness" is an identity which represents universalism, citizenship, enlightenment, and values, then "Englishness," which specifically relates to the nation of England, is a blood and soil nationalism. Britain is a state; England is a nation.
English nationalism, whether we like it or not, is normatively seen as politically incorrect. It is despised by the country's metropolitan, liberal leaning, middle classes, who frame it in narratives of racism, inferior intelligence, a lack of sophistication, and thus snobbish, classist caricatures of Britain's white working classes, often sneering at them. Of course, I was born and grew up in Sunderland, which has fast become one of the heartlands for English identity, especially as its traditional Labour unionist ideology has disintegrated with the demise of its industries in the 1980s and 1990s.
Sunderland has become a focal point, and a metaphor, for a transformation that is now taking hold across the country as a whole: An explosion in English nationalism. Mounting public anger over the "small boats" crossing the channel, growing narratives surrounding asylum seekers, widespread political disillusionment, and a backlash against a changing identity in the country are all behind the ignition. Protests and marches have been taking place throughout the country, while a campaign to hoist up St. George's Cross flags everywhere has also taken hold. Reform UK, a right-wing political party led by Nigel Farage, has also consistently dominated the polls and wiped out Labour on Durham County Council in the May local elections, again showing the drastic identity shift in North East England.
Of course, this shift in identity is not unanimous throughout the country, and is best described as a "culture war" of sorts, differentiated between class and worldview. Yet, one thing is clear: the consensus on British identity that solidified after World War II, amidst the structural legacy of the Union State and the British Empire, is disintegrating. It is easy to dismiss all this movement as "far-right" and of course there are such figures and groups involved, yet the problem its critics note is that this is not "fringe politics" anymore, it has exploded into and embedded into the mainstream.
But does that mean complete acceptance? Nope, with the collapse of a consensus comes polarisation and conflict, that is until a new consensus is set, which is precisely why Keir Starmer's Labour government, who is foolishly trying to compete with Reform on Immigration in a protracted race to the bottom, is suddenly going to find the rug pulled from under its feet by a new Jeremy Corbyn led force from the left. There's a new pattern taking place for the heart of the integral identity which defines the United Kingdom, and interesting days are ahead.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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