British Politics and Britishness
British identity is fragmenting and the idea of Britishness appears to be receding in people's minds and being replaced with English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish identity.
The only groups that generally see themselves as British these days are:
- Middle-class people who went to private school
- English people who moved to Edinburgh
- Members of the Armed forces
- One-half of the population who live in Northern Ireland (although let's be fair, they are a people separate from mainline Britishness)
- Politicians living in Westminster
- Douglas Ross
- English people who left the country to live in Australia, New Zealand and America
It is not a massive list of people, even this is hard to tell how many people really view themselves as British.
So when we talk about British politics in the age of Post-Britisness we are talking about how British politics has to manage a nation stage that is now basically four possible five or six nations in one. Depending on how to view the nations.
For instance, is Cornwall a nation? Yorkshire?
Britain has always been a nation of nations ever since the Act of Union in 1707. It has never been a 100% clear-cut and dry nation-state.
Britain like many places has layers of identity. You can claim to be British, support England in football and tell everyone you are proud Yorkshiremen.
Britishness has never had a willful and indoctrination lead attempt at nation-creating. Regional and national differences have been for a majority of its tenure left to themselves.
Many other European nations had and still do have strong attempts to create a "nation" whilst also having structures for regionalism and regional identity.
Britain for better and for worse does not have this.
There is a regional layer of government in England that reflects the Lander in Scotland.
Nor is there a government that tries to define "Britishness" like the French government.
In terms of the nation, Britain or the British Isles is a place loaded with purposeful vagueness.
This vagueness is a strength (when it comes to having nations cohabit together), however, it is also a weakness when it comes to British politics.
For a majority of the British Political life is far too centralised in London and too far away from the people it is supposed to serve.