Is becoming “British” impossible?
After 16 years of living in the UK, I am finally a citizen, but find I have gained no great…
ByBritish identity
The right don’t own tradition, but they can keep Morris dancing
How do we connect with the past when this impulse is often exploited by the worst people imaginable?
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The meaning of Essex
Built for commuters, the county created a brash new consumerist identity. But its success has come at a price.
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Why Britain isn’t as broken as you think
The UK is beset by crises and plagued by culture wars. But the road to a happier and more modest…
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The long shadow of the Iraq War
How do you mourn soldiers killed in an “unjust” war? For years the town of Wootton Bassett showed us how.
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This England: Dog’s dinner
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain –…
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What does it mean to be British?
America has its Dream, France its Republic – but Britain suffers from a failure of imagination.
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Our Shamima Begum obsession
Her story has been told and retold in countless newspaper articles, three podcasts and three documentaries. Why can’t we look…
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The quiet revolution in black British identity
Black Britishness used to mean people from Caribbean backgrounds – but now it is more varied than ever.
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As a unified sense of British nationhood fades, we must ask: what is England?
As the UK fragments, we are experiencing a reawakening of English national consciousness.
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