chris955

This will certainly surprise a few on here, I thnk it is good to read that such a large percentage are proud to be British but very heartening to see that such a large number of a particularly 'foreign' religion are proud of their adopted country in the case of immigrants. I must say that the findings do seem to agree with the general feeling I am seeing here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...-proud-britain

TopCat3

I think it's useful to read some of the comments underneath which talk about the sampling and the manner in which the survey was conducted. Having worked for many years in market and social research I understand some of the concerns expressed in these comments. And the comments about surveys in relation to Sharia law are pertinent too. I think it's by and large another dose of cultural brainwashing.

slapphead_otool

I am extremely proud to be British, and even prouder to be an Englishman.

I just don't live there any more, and I am honest about things. It's rather like those colonials who left the UK and for generations continued the British lifestyle - dinner jackets in the jungle for dinner at 7 etc.

In fact in many ways I am more English than half of the people in England right now - although that depends on how you define English.

But the above doesn't mean I am fitted with rose tinted glasses!

TopCat3

Or a hijab

slapphead_otool

I think it is also essential to understand that it is people's personal perspective.

So when one man says "I am proud to be British" he is referring to HIS perception of what being British is. Another man with a totally different perspective will still be proud to be British, but will have a different idea of what bring British means.

Try typifying what "being British" means and you see what I mean.

What is typically British?

Kindness to animals? A devout Muslim won't see that as being typically British as he cuts a goats throat in his back garden at Eid Fitr. But for him cutting the goats throat is typically British.

see the problem?

What is being British these days (other than holding a passport of convenience)?

WestLondonWelshman

My wifes family are australian since the dawn of european australian settlement and there is a vast network of relations throughout the antipodies, particularly in SA and NSW. Her great great grandad was one of the first people to navigate the murray, a great uncle discovered opals in cooper pedy. Yet in many respects a more British family you wouldn't meet. All her old aunts and cousins in Adelaide are Anglophiles through and through, watch songs of praise on sunday, love fish and chips, watch the royal wedding and on their regular visits over here love it to bits, particularly the weather 'so nice to get out of the heat".

what is the obsession with heat btw. I like a bit of sunny weather, but i also love standing in a howling glae, the rain and being in minus 10 snow. varition in weather conditions is a good thing, not a bad thing. White europeans were'nt designed to live in 40c heat...

slapphead_otool

Some more traits of "Being British" that some might find hard to take:

Women and children first
Calmness in times of panic
Self sacrifice
Queuing

Now compare those to some people claiming to be proud to be Bitish...

BadgeIsBack

I agree, Slappy. You don't have to go to Tesco, or install double glazing to be an Englishman.

BadgeIsBack

Central heating.
Choice of 100 yoghurts.
Want lovely weather
Xbox inside when it is peeing down outside...etc etc

!

papilon

Why the need to be such a complete twat???

papilon

i see what you did there, the old reverse dig

slapphead_otool

And to highlight my point:

The master of the local hunt thinks he is typically British when his hounds tear a fox to pieces. And maybe he is....

The little old lady thinks he is being typically British when she hides the fox and her cubs in her garden to save them. And maybe she is...

BadgeIsBack

It was deliberate - only in so far as some people are not as British as they think they are - Slappy's point.

slapphead_otool

One thing is clear in my mind, based upon experience - neither holding a British passport nor living in Britain necessarily makes you "British".

BadgeIsBack

It partly depends on whether you are talking about a cultural factor or a political factor.

Anyone who takes out Australian citizenship or a passport is an Australian - even if some have serious misgivings about what this means personally to them. At the end of the day, it's all a bit of paper, and people don't choose where they are born - and are indeed the sum of all their experiences.

Proud to be British is cultural all the way. I am proud to be a new Australian, but I have found the sweet point where Australian culture intersects with English culture. I mean English literally here (ha!) but I could nod to other people in my household...and say British...(lol).