Blog

Compulsory creativity may please the government Compulsory creativity would have to happen if current proposals become law. Ministers plan to include the celebration of British values in proposals for new media laws. Former minister John Wittingdale said in September...

The British Empire is still controversial The British Empire is a glorious achievement in the opinion of many, whilst others see it only in a negative way. A recent documentary Empire State of Mind by Sathnam Sanghera looked at it from the point of view of a British...

Genocide and the holocaust are in the news 'Genocide' got Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, into trouble at COP26. because he said climate change could cause many deaths and people would blame today's world leaders. He likened the situation to the 1930's...

Matthew the Priest ? Matthew was always going to be a priest. His father was a fisherman who had made a lot of money and owned his own boat. Later he acquired another boat and all his sons worked both boats, in cheerful competition. However, there was one clever one...

Realism? Am I joking? Realism is not the word that comes to mind when you think of stories full of miracles. However, it is one of the factors which leads some people to think they are history. That is something I did not mention when I last wrote about the gospels as...

Hypocrisy can't be British, can it? Hypocrisy is something we always deny, because nobody likes a hypocrite. We love to say what we mean and mean what we say, don't we? How could anyone think otherwise? Surely, I can't include this in my list of what it is to be...

Free speech is controversial Free speech means different things to different people, but we all think it's a Good Thing. It fits with two things I have already written about in my series on Britishness: Multiculturalism and our Sense of Humour. That is because it...

Humour is in our self-image Humour is essential if you want to understand the British. I have already written about Multiculturalism and Violence (the latter in a negative way of course). Anyone coming here from Afghanistan or anywhere else needs to get our sense of...

Violence occurs in Britain Violence occurs in all countries and Britain is no exception. Apart from boxing, martial arts and other violent sports, violent crimes take place from time to time in almost every part of the UK. Almost everyone is capable of losing his or...

Multiculturalism should be taught Multiculturalism is one aspect of British life today. Therefore I hope Afghans will learn about it, when they arrive in the UK. It should be in their lessons on 'British Values', which the government has promised. In fact, I think all...

Protestantism was a big issue in the 16th century Protestantism was illegal in the England of Henry VIII as in most of Europe, but it was gradually spreading. It was an important issue, because religion was important to almost everyone. It determined your way of...

Left behind in Kabul: 700+ Left behind in Kabul are at least 700 interpreters and others who were officially entitled to come to the UK. Everyone knows that. Despite the last-minute best efforts, our government let them down. They should have planned it better and...