Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 1 THE SMITH INSTITUTE Britishness: towards a progressive citizenship Edited by Nick Johnson Published by the Smith Institute ISBN 1 905370 18 0 This report, like all Smith Institute monographs, represents the views of the authors and not those of the Smith Institute. © The Smith Institute 2007 Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 2 THE SMITH INSTITUTE Contents Preface By Wilf Stevenson, Director, Smith Institute 3 Introduction Nick Johnson, Director of Policy and Public Sector at the Commission 4 for Racial Equality Chapter 1: The progressive value of civic patriotism 14 Professor Todd Gitlin, Sociologist and Author Chapter 2: Is Britishness relevant? 22 Sadiq Khan, Labour MP for Tooting Chapter 3: Immigration and national identity 30 Robert Winder, Author Chapter 4: Britishness and integration 38 Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission for Equality & Human Rights and formerly Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality Chapter 5: Not less immigration, but more integration 48 Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research Chapter 6: Belonging – local and national 60 Geoff Mulgan, Director of the Young Foundation, and Rushanara Ali, Associate Director of the Young Foundation Chapter 7: Devolution – the layers of identity 68 Catherine Stihler, Labour MEP for Scotland Chapter 8: Citizenship education and identity formation 76 Tony Breslin, Chief Executive of the Citizenship Foundation Chapter 9: Faith and nation 84 Madeleine Bunting, Journalist and Author Endnote: Towards a progressive British citizenship? 94 Nick Johnson 2 Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 3 THE SMITH INSTITUTE Preface Wilf Stevenson, Director, Smith Institute The Smith Institute is an independent think tank which has been set up to undertake research and education in issues that flow from the changing relationship between social values and economic imperatives. In recent years the institute has centred its work on the policy implications arising from the interactions of equality, enterprise and equity. The aim of this pamphlet is to look at the ways in which issues of diversity and equality interact with the notion of a positively stated and recognisable understanding of “Britishness”. Many contemporary political speeches across the political spectrum deal with Britishness. For example, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has sought to argue for a common ground of progressive policy that reflects a range of “enduring British values”. However, there are clearly potential tensions between the desire to celebrate common values, and the notion of Britain as a nation that is welcoming and accommodating of a wide range of cultures and belief systems. The essays in this collection offer stimulating and thought-provoking accounts of what a progressive national feeling might encompass, and how it might be encouraged and shaped in the coming years. Over the course of their contributions, the authors address a wide range of questions germane to this debate: Is it possible to develop a statement of Britishness that transcends the wide range of beliefs and values that exist within the population? Can public institutions really claim to be difference-blind, or is it a matter of supporting and bolstering the public validity of group identities? How can the internally fluid and contested nature of “group identity” be recognised and taken into account when developing policies and shaping the requirements of British citizenship? What are the best ways to understand and respond progressively to the patterns of mass migration and the appearance of new cultures and communities within the British population? Can “Britishness” be understood in terms of the way we approach issues of difference within our borders? The Smith Institute thanks Nick Johnson for editing this collection and gratefully acknowledges the support of the Commission for Racial Equality towards this publication. 3 Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 4 THE SMITH INSTITUTE Introduction Nick Johnson, Director of Policy and Public Sector at the Commission for Racial Equality If you spill a stranger’s drink by accident, it is good manners (and prudent) to offer to buy another. Britain is famous for being a nation of animal lovers, and many people in Britain keep pets. Taken from Life in the United Kingdom, A Journey to Citizenship 1 It is the sense, and often the fact, of community, of human dialogue, the thousand invisible strands of common experience and purpose, affection and respect, which tie men to their fellows. It is expressed in such words as community, neighbourhood, civic pride, friendship. It provides the life-sustaining force of human warmth, of security amongst others, and a sense of one’s own human significance in the accepted associations and companionship of others. Robert F Kennedy, in his last book, To Seek a Newer World 2 What is Britishness? Too often when Britishness is discussed, we concentrate on the details, the slightly ironic notions of the small things that, taken together, make up what we can call a national identity. Rarely do we talk of Britishness as a sense of belonging, of common bonds – of the higher national purpose that Robert Kennedy outlines. Given this, it can be no wonder that the recent British social attitudes survey showed that the proportion of people who consider themselves British has fallen from 52% in 1997 to 44% in 2007. The problem here may not be that people are rejecting Britishness per se, but rather that there is uncertainty as to what being British might involve. Many accounts of what binds citizens in Britain together are expressed in terms of what being British cannot include. Icons of Britishness are seemingly set in stone and always under threat – from outsiders, government and the modern world. Britishness can often be seen as anachronistic and exclusive. Yet for others, it is meaningless – too abstract and inclusive to be anything distinctive. British values are almost always universal values, British behaviour quaint but hardly generating a shared sense of identity. 1 Life in the United Kingdom, A Journey to Citizenship (Home Office, 2004) 2 Kennedy, Robert To Seek a Newer World (Doubleday, 1967) 4 Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 5 THE SMITH INSTITUTE For progressives – with their commitment to internationalism, diversity, and equal opportunities and responsibilities for all citizens regardless of ethnicity, gender, age or faith – an exclusive or backward-looking account of what it is to be a citizen of Britain cannot be satisfactory. The lack of a positive account of what it means to be British could underpin what the Chancellor of the Exchequer has referred to as a “yearning for community” among the British public. In an age of global travel and communication, in which patterns of migration are bringing ever more diversity and richness to the texture of British society, the need for an account of what it might mean to be a part of British society in all its diversity is greater than ever. This collection of essays aims to show why Britishness matters even more in this world of hyper-diversity and movement: how it can be drawn inclusively and aspirationally and how, through developing a more concrete sense of shared identity, we can piece together the “thousand invisible strands of common experience and purpose”. … something to be proud of? American writer and sociologist Professor Todd Gitlin makes a passionate case that not only do progressives need to embrace patriotism, but patriotism itself requires a progressive application if it is not to wither. He places the debate over Britishness among competing visions for the future – one anachronistic, rooted in the past, and the other forward-looking and embracing change. For too long, he argues, politicians of the left have been too fearful of talking about Britishness, instead leaving it to the right to promote a narrow and exclusive view of national identity. He proclaims that “the nation must be saved from the nationalists” and places the onus on defining a view of national identity that is integrationist, not assimilationist. In an argument reflected in the contributions of both Trevor Phillips and Robert Winder, Gitlin shows how we can develop a concept of Britishness that recognises the diversity that has been an essential part of our history and is vital to our future. However, he also contends that we should not fudge real differences and that national identity can be an answer to some of the present debates over diversity and multi- culturalism. Just as he rejects the right’s attempts to proclaim a cultural homogeneity to Britishness that does not exist, Gitlin also criticises laissez-faire multiculturalism for seeking to ignore the need for common allegiance. Britishness, he argues, can be the bridge between recognising cultural difference and multiple identities, while retaining some cohesion to the shared space we inhabit. 5 Britishness_Text.qxd 13/3/07 15:21 Page 6 THE SMITH INSTITUTE To realise this vision, we need to concentrate on the role Britishness can play in our notions of citizenship and social solidarity, rather than seeing it as an ethnicity. Gitlin argues for seeing Britishness as a form of social contract that ties people together in an ever more fluid world. … a symbol of solidarity and citizenship? Labour MP Sadiq Khan makes a conceptual case for why Britishness matters and also gives an account of what that might mean for policy makers. Like other contributors, he sees no contradiction between a strong sense of British identity and other identities to which people may have loyalty. Indeed, he sees a renewed debate and focus on Britishness as a way of resolving some of our present debates over integration and cohesion. For Khan, a strong notion of Britishness as a civic contract offers an important way of thinking about how different identities can coexist with a mutual sense of belonging as a British citizen.