General Article What does it mean to be ‘British’ in 2020?

Topic Selected: Citizenship in the UK Book Volume: 382
This article is 4 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

A Britain fit for the future must know its past.

By Madeleine Anderson

Following a 2014 YouGov poll in which 59 per cent of people admitted to having ‘pride’ in the British Empire, questions have been raised as to how ‘collective amnesia’ around colonialism continues to prevent an honest conversation about what it means to be ‘British’ in 2020. 

Britain’s Empire developed during the 1600s, ‘officially’ ending with the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Only 14 British overseas territories now remain, but the living legacy of empire in today’s dialogue on immigration and identity persists. Critics of the 2016 Brexit referendum cite the notion of a misunderstood history, explaining how a return to Britain’s powerful past would require a regression in our nation’s morals. Strikingly, in the three months directly following the 2016 referendum, reports of hate crimes rose by 50 per cent on the previous three months. 

Of the 59 per cent that expressed a ‘pride’ in...

Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?

Sign up now for an immediate no obligation FREE TRIAL and view the entire collection