Has Britain Lost its Sense of Identity?

In light of the media furore surrounding Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time last week, I couldn’t help but question his extreme Nationalistic views on our society; has Britain lost its sense of identity due to our questionably disproportionate multi-cultural tolerance, and, if so, what exactly was this sense of identity in the first place?

Certainly the Christianity, manners, wealth and stiff upper lip of times gone by so often associated with Britishness have shifted somewhat/become essentially extinct. These days, the respectable English Gent has been replaced by a beer-swilling, chanting football hooligan who’ll incessantly try to get his leg over anything with a skirt and a pulse. This yobbish desperation is all too often coupled with an unfathomable arrogance and disbelief upon rejection.


Indeed just this week I walked past a traffic jam in which three leering, perverted pikeys (read: Burberry cap-donning dole-scum) shouted 'shake ya booty!' from their chavmobile (read: pimped out but nevertheless undisguisedly shabby 1993 Ford Fiesta with absolutely zero need for a spoiler and a presumed illegal sound system blaring out some sketchy drum and bass loud enough to wake my grandmother up in Newcastle). Upon my returned disgusted look and lack of compliance, they chanted 'F*CKING LESBIAN!' until I was out of earshot, impressively somehow managing to even drown out their ear-drum bursting ‘beatz.’ Of course I was greatly amused by the concept that because I didn’t eagerly leap forward with an animalistic display of frenzied lust and offer up my best bootylicious Beyonce moves (I really don’t think they were ready for this jelly) then I must of course be a raving, butch dyke. Who indeed could resist such visionary delights, with their gelled curtains (oh so 90s!), gold studs, top of the range JJB sportswear and generic tattooed arms?

The most worrying factor in this scenario was just how utterly unfazed I was; unfortunately, I think I speak for the majority of women in this country in saying that getting groped at the bar, shouted obscenities at in the street or being literally humped on the dance floor are all things we learn to tolerate in today’s society. But on the other hand, long gone is the genteel lady associated with British identity a century ago who never speaks out of turn and serves her man. Waving the stereotypical British women’s flag now is a foul-mouthed Essex chav with canary yellow hair extensions, tangerine skin, fake Juicy Couture tracksuits and 3 children by different fathers; a cigarette hanging from her lips as a permanent fixture and clutching a bottle of wine at all times.

If this week’s The Sun headline is anything to go by, it is the women of today that pose the biggest threat to society; the cat-fighting, screeching, no-knicker wearing alcoholics, vomiting Britain’s pride down the drain (pastimes glamorized by society’s WAGs).

Bearing all this in mind, are we sure that this ostensible devotion to multiculturalism and bending over backwards to accommodate different races and religions in Britain is such a bad thing? Given that the moral codes of Christianity have long died out in our society, surely we may profit from other religious guidelines? Apparently this is not so. If we were to believe the views held by nationalists such as the delightful Mr Griffin, we are creating a chasm just perfect for millions of illegal immigrants to litter with their religions, ways of life and cultures which are steadily pushing out our own.

Whilst of course I disagree with this, it isn’t completely unfair of me to say that there aren’t some nuggets of truth buried in there. ‘Political correctness gone mad’ is a pandemic currently sweeping the nation where we pander to the needs of pretty much every other religion and race apart from our own. It is currently perfectly acceptable to have a Black Police Society but not a white one, for different religions to have extra days off from work including Christian holidays, to have entire areas of London that are non-white and to run segregated Muslim schools. Whilst ethical diversity is one of London’s selling points in my opinion, it is certainly extreme that only 12% of Southall’s residents are indigenous whites, for example.

Whilst in Nick Griffin's eyes the ‘black’ areas of Britain and especially London are gang heaven and the Indian and Pakistani areas are unquestionably terrorist havens, the majority of England (thankfully) disagree. It has been other races, colours and religions that have helped England win the wars and shaped the country into what it is today. They are an integral part of our history, and just as legitimate a citizen as I am. This leads me to question quite what Nationalism is. Do we have any place for it in this society, where its ambassadors use it as a tool for racism?

If the football hooligans and their WAG’s now define British identity then perhaps we should be grateful for the diversity around us. Britain was always going to change, and past ways were always going to die out. Thus is the nature of evolution.

Still, English people accounts for 83 percent of the British population and 85 percent of the economy. Still, 650 million people speak our language. Still, we remain a superpower. Still, we’re globally recognizable. 


We’re still British. We’ve just changed a bit.