I often hear on Podcasts and interviews the question " What is it to be British?" and the guests regularly seem a little stumped by this question. If we cant define who we are,how do we move forward? I know this isn’t a policy as such but its the bases on which policies are Formed.
What does being British mean to you?
I’m really interested to hear peoples thoughts.
This is what I feel about it.
Being British is to accept our history, and the many trials we have been through, what united us and why it did, our foundation which is essentially Christianity, without it I don’t think we would have been so united, unless we managed to conjure something like the Finns did with Sisu (grit).
To be British is to be pioneer minded, to lead the way in the world as we did all the way through the ages once we formed Brittania, and because of our Christian foundation, we let good morals make decisions, such as stopping slave trade, commencing the Transatlantic trade mission to stop slave trading, the first to stop it all.
We had a early age man who I would call our origin Briton, named Caratacus, who with his people forced out the Roman Empire out of the UK. Under King Alfred the Great we united once again to push out invaders, the Vikings/Danes because I now see how we are facing a very similar situation in our current day.
Heritage, history, culture, Christianity values and ethics at its core, strength and determination, manners/being polite/being considerate/ tolerance (which is being abused), it all derived from our Christian past, of which we have strayed from, too far for some and some have become “woke”.
Many have strayed from what it means to be British, and our government has done this, caused people to feel disenfranchised, lost and without direction in life.
I want us together again, because our past has shown us how well we perform as a cohesive nation of Brits. English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish, we’re all important but key.
Forgive me if I strayed at all, there are indeed many other bits I likely have missed but I needed to sleep a little more this morning 
The thing is there isnt really a tight easy explanation. Because complex things cannot be defined easily.
Define a dagger, “its a short blade thats used for slicing” well then is a kitchen knife a dagger and if not why not, is a circular saw blade a dagger, is a fruit knife.
There is a fixation in the modern scientifically/managerial minded times to define everything and categorise everything. But many things cannot be defined.
To be British is to identify with the culture of one of the British native ethnicities and imbibe their morals ethics and norms.
But its grey, is mushy and its vague, because there is no easily definable boundary, that doesnt mean it doesnt exist, you dont want to fall into a definition fallacy where just because you cant say exactly the point where the river meets the sea that they dont meet.
Really Britishness is not really easily definable without looking up the customs and particularities of each of the constituent ethnicities.
One place to look is for where non british people have described the british.
I would encourage using sources from pre-WW1 (i.e. before the age of propaganda and total war) if you want to identify points of interest and explanations of the particularities of the country, but even then it is defined by the culture of the country of the observer, for instance a french wine drinker may think of the British beer culture something very different to a Dane.
The two who have contributed so far have excellently touched on many aspects of what it is to be British, and have also observed that an answer to this question eludes clear or easy definition, a point I most certainly agree with.
I have heard some politicians attempt to articulate ‘British values’ or ‘britishness’, and their attempts seem to me to fall very short of it. Too often, they emphasise tolerance - that is a characteristic of the British - but when I hear them talk about tolerance, that is often an disingenuous appeal to support the ideology of multiculturalism. Some speak of ‘the rule of law’; but many other non-British cultures have the rule of law too. But speak of common law - there, you’re onto something more relevant.
One observation I’d like to make is, I have never really had to think about defining ‘britishness’ before. We’ve just been soaked in it through upbringing and being among the British. It’s transmitted by osmosis, not by an itemised list. We can recognise Britishness even if we can’t define it. This is most apparent when Brits who have been abroad for a while come back home. There’s the familial expressions in language, the humour, the outlook on life. Different circumstances bring out the different aspects of britishness - much of ‘britishness’ is latent until a circumstance manifests it.
I wonder if the late Roger Scruton has ever spoken about britishness? His point of view would be interesting to hear and possibly quite illuminating if he did. (He did make some excellent observations on ‘What is Conservatism’ that overlaps with the subject here.) In many ways, Scruton embodied ‘britishness’ himself.
Apologies if this is something of a ramble!
I would add that generally anyone who is asking to define British are not asking in good faith, so not worth worrying too much about it because if you gave them a good answer they would just move onto the next “gotcha!” question.
It is impossible to define any culture effectively as I said because it is complex. A quick answer is to ask them to define another culture.
But another method to understand it should be through the important particularities.
For the English:
-they are on an island with no natural predators.
-they use common law, which hands back to its inception a measure of the law being owned by the people not by the rulers.
-they were armed and trained to use weapons, i.e. the longbow for hundreds of years. This means that they cannot be subjugated by their government and therefore require governing by consent (which is the same thought process that led to the creation of the police).
-They were ruled by an ethnic minority i.e. the Normans, who due to their precarious nature could not be too tyrannical, but also due to this limits the social climbing that an english person could achieve, grounding them to their community.
All these particular historical influences impact the formation of the English identity.
Ah yes, the Normans. I have a friend with that surname…
Also, I am totally getting to learn how to make a longbow soon, I have been keen on wanting to return to our old ways, because in our old ways, we were our most connected and united version of ourselves.
Reminds me of the rabbit island nearby mainland Japan
Although this discussion is not about a specific policy as such, the common factor from the discussion so far - the recognition that britishness is hard to define but is something that is rooted in history and is acquired by living in british society - should inform the development of concrete policies in other areas.
For example:
a) a sustainable rate of immigration (this might be preceded by a very restrictive immigration policy for a number of years to allow the country to recover from the excessive immigration of recent years).
b) Education - teaching british history
c) Encouragement of cultural events where british culture can be expressed
d) safeguards for the practice and use of common law and rights to a jury trial.
e) a review of policing practice, with an emphasis on policing by consent.
That will do for a start, no doubt ‘britishness’ has a part to play in other policy areas.
Being British is very complex, as well as all the things discussed above there are also geographical and class influences. For me it’s more an emotional connection.
We used to have towns that were known for industry, mining, steel, manufacturing cars, clothes, lace making etc. Traditional accents can vary from town to town, then theres the queens English. Cockney rhyming slang is its own language, not forgetting welsh and Gaelic. Then there is the strange and quirky, cheese rolling at Coopers Hill, Pearly Kings and Queens and Morris Dancing to name but a few.
When I think of food, it’s traditional Fish and chips. Pie and mash. Red Leicester cheese. Melton Mowbray pork pie and Yorkshire Tea bags. This probably reflects my very working class background.
But there are also things that “used” to bind us together.
Pride of country, royal family, armed forces. Armistice day. Christian values and charity. Love thy neighbour etc. We are also nation of animal lovers, especially dogs.
The last time I remember everyone being proud of the UK was at the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony which went into the achievements of the nation.
For me personally being British is pride in knowing that my grandparents fought in WWII and valuing the freedoms that gave to us. Saying sorry when someone bumps into you. Queueing for anything. Good manners. Giving up a seat to the elderly and a good cup of Yorkshire tea. Above all else having integrity and honour. Even the criminals used to have a code.
That doesn’t mean to say we can’t appreciate the new influences we have experienced since the war. Like a good curry or spaghetti bolognaise.
I just want to be able to walk down our streets, see the majority being our people (sometimes a tourist but not that many, preferably behaving), having a “Y’alright?”, a bit of a nod and a smile, no mopeyness, to be able to talk to the nice elderly on the bus, our kids just being outside playing football or “going on adventures” with wooden swords and shields, to have the “no no, you first” kind of courtesy returned more, for neighbours to talk to each other more without the fear of who might live there.
I want to hear church bells and it being attended, we are a Christian core country, even if you are not Christian, people should be friends and seek the community within the church space. When I was in the countryside in November, I saw churches upon churches and felt sad, because I knew they were likely empty or barely attended. I know I have already said in this thread about how it is what brought us to be united against the raids of the Vikings, but I can’t stand the thought of forsaking such a unity against our current evil we are facing. I want to be allies and friends to all my English/Welsh/Scottish/Irish people I see as my good neighbour.
We have to get started connecting again, its only right.
Yes, BFuz, I know what you are describing.
All this was part of a high-trust society in which you knew that kids could safely go out on their ‘adventures’ because other adults could be trusted to look out for them if there was a problem.
British culture was very much a unifier, a great thing we all had in common - and a high trust society was a natural consequence of that.
With regard to Christianity, that was a great unifier too. Even without an active faith it was a rich part of the tapestry of our culture. Phrases from the Bible (the King James) filtered into every day language. Everyone had at least some familiarity with parts of bible narrative (‘bible stories’). And Christian teachings inspired societal norms and values.
Bring Great Britain back.
I’ve see that Japan is now allowing the same “troublesome” people as well, I hope they will stop this before they too lose the high-trust reputation.
Yes we are natives of the British Islands. Those natives make up four distinctive groups, the Welsh, the Scottish, the Irish and the English. If you asked a Scottish man he would define himself as Scottish first, if you asked a Welsh man he would define himself as Welsh first, if you asked an Irish man (either north or south) he would define himself as Irish first, if you asked an English man, he might say I’m British first. Seems to me it is only the English person who has had his culture diminished enough (watered down) that he is likely unable to define the specifics of his culture which combine to make up Britishness. Pre Roman times theses islands where made up of various Celtic tribes that defined their lives and culture but they were individual tribes. The Welsh have an anthem, so do the Scots and Eire, only England and Northern Irish have God Save the Monarch. So it seems to me that we need to define ourselves more maybe, not sure, as part of the traits of the four groups that make up these Islands and that combine to make us collectively British.
One specific point about what being British is not -
it’s not just holding generalized liberal values like “tolerance”. This is what liberal mainstream politicians say, and it’s nonsense. Liberalism, while yes it is very much a British cultural product originally, is not distinctively British, and has been exported across much of the planet.
I won’t add to the definition of British, but I can offer a thought experiment to identify if you are of this land, and therefore British yourself.
If you have nothing other than your family to rely on and only enough money to travel, how easy would you find it to leave Britain and live somewhere else comfortably?
Obviously, the easier it would be, the less British you are.
It’s not intended to be perfect, or any definition of Britishness, or even proof. I just think it’s a useful way to quickly identify the land of which you are ‘of’.
I think it has a grounding because the same thought experiment could be carried out in relation to any country with an umbrella identity like “British”.
I don’t buy it, many people who are as British as can be have family in the New World, like Canada, the USA, Australia, or New Zealand, and would be “less british” by your definition. All this beating around the bush to try and say what we all know the truth is without actually saying it: A British person is someone who is, in whole or in part, of English, Scottish, Welsh, or Cornish descent. Depending on what peoples you count as British, maybe Manx too.
I appreciate your point, but I don’t entirely agree.
The term “British” originated within the context of the British Empire, where anyone born in territories under the Crown’s control was classified as a “British subject.” Historically, “British” served as an umbrella term encompassing all subjects of the empire, from the British Isles to distant colonies. This usage has, of course, evolved over time. Nevertheless, it was always a broad legal designation for those under the dominion of the British Crown, rather than a precise marker of identity or ethnicity.
In your example of individuals considered “British” with family ties to anglophone former colonies or current Commonwealth nations—yes, they might be ethnically English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, or Manx, but ethnicity alone doesn’t define “Britishness.” “British” has never been an ethnicity; it’s a political and legal construct tied to subjecthood, and to some extent a shared cultural heritage.
As for the thought experiment I proposed, I described it as imperfect; however, I don’t believe your example undermines it. If someone has a mechanism to escape this land—meaning they aren’t absolutely and totally dependent on its survival, nor hold it as the core of their identity, home, and future—they are, in my view, less “British” than someone who does. To me, “Britishness” now implies a deeper, more intrinsic connection to these specific islands and their fate, beyond mere legal status or ethnic background.
What’s more, tying “British” to the ethnicities of these islands, I believe, diminishes the significance of the distinct heritages tied to them. Those identities—English, Scottish, Welsh, and so on—are far more definitive than “British,” which remains a nebulous and imprecise term. That’s my view.
We lived in Germany for 6 years. The culture was very different in some ways and British culture became a lot clearer to me, especially where it was different from German culture.
So…politeness and respect for others, even if you don’t particularly like them. That is also Biblical. Next, stoicism and standing up for freedom and against bullies. British people have a very ironic sense of humour, with lots of word play and puns, as well as the more slapstick humour and love of farce.
British people hate corruption and exploitation of the weak - they are all about fair play and championing the underdog. They are normally reticent and like their own privacy. They are individualistic, creative and problem solving. I noticed that Germany imported British natives to do the design work in their clothing factories, listened to British pop music and had translations of lots of books by British authors in their supermarkets. Germans were much more rules-based and efficient. Whereas British people were concerned with how best to get the desired end result, not about slavishly following a method laid down by someone in a handbook, Germans wanted to follow strict rules.
Of course, our history and love of country and people is part of what it should mean to be British. Our history and tolerance is used against us. I noticed that the Germans’ history was also used against them. Though most of them are ashamed of their past in WWII, and they actually teach against Nazism in their schools, they were made to feel that they should compensate for their past by letting in huge numbers of migrants. Colonialism was the excuse used on the British.
Don’t forget Free Speech and Freedom of Assembly, both of which are under threat.
British values don’t exist—it’s a trap.
What people call “British values” is just the organic melding of native cultures acting as one cohesive unit. What constitutes British values depends on which nation you’re from, as it’s only a veneer.
The legitimacy of British identity, however, stems from the mutual respect among its component cultures—Welsh, Scottish, English, and Northern Irish—for each other’s right to their respective lands. Britishness is an identity, not a value system, a distinction that becomes necessary when dealing with cultures outside the country.
With a global empire, it made sense to expand the concept to “British subjects” (not British) as more regions fell under the Crown. But after decolonization, with no foreign territory left, this caused problems. A non-native “British” individual can’t exist in Britain without displacing one of the cultures that give the identity its legitimacy.
This is why people struggle to define it—they assume British identity works like America’s and chase a civic nationalism that collapses under its own lack of authentic legitimacy.
It leads to bizarre cultural glitches, where someone like Axel is seen as British until he commits an atrocity, at which point he’s retroactively deemed never to have been British.
Some very interesting suggestions here, but my answer to the the question “What does being British mean to you?” is one word. PRIDE.
