The British are a conflicted people – full of the very British contradictions we must own before we can grow, and it’s long past time we accepted that.
This Writer argued in a previous piece that Britishness isn’t found in puffed-up patriotism or polling-led platitudes, but in a cultural posture of fairness, resilience, suspicion of pomposity, and a refusal to take authority at face value.
But even as I wrote it, I knew there was more to say.
Like any national identity, Britishness isn’t a clean, singular thing; it is full of contradictions.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
We are a nation of paradoxes — often proud of that fact — and those contradictions are not just harmless quirks. They shape how we live, how we vote, and how easily we can be manipulated.
We cannot reclaim Britishness without first reckoning with these tensions. Since that first article, I’ve been thinking about how to address them – and here are just a few of the contradictions we live with every day — but rarely name.
We don’t like being told what to do — but we still do it.
We pride ourselves on being difficult to boss around. “You’re not the boss of me” could be our national slogan.
Yet, time and again, we tolerate overreach from those in power. Whether it’s surveillance legislation, protest restrictions, quietly creeping authoritarianism, we grumble – and comply.
Why? Maybe it’s because we’ve internalised the idea that rebellion is uncouth.
Or maybe we still half-believe that if something sounds official enough, it must be justified.
We whisper our dissent, rather than shout it. We queue politely — even as the house burns down.
We trust institutions — until we don’t.
The BBC can get things wrong — badly wrong — but people will still defend it, because it feels trustworthy.
That feeling is a relic of a time when authority and accuracy seemed to go hand-in-hand. But that same instinct can blind us to bias, complacency, or outright misinformation.
And that blindness extends elsehwere, meaning that we both mock and revere our institutions.
We treat Parliament like pantomime, but expect it to save us. We sneer at “the establishment” — and vote for it again and again.
We’re proudly sceptical — and yet strangely credulous.
We pride ourselves on our “no-nonsense” attitude, thinking we can spot a con a mile off – but we also fall for simplistic narratives when they scratch the right itch.
Tabloid outrage is devoured uncritically. Half-truths dressed in patriotism pass for wisdom.
We’re suspicious of politicians, but not always of the sources that prop them up.
We mock sentimentality — but live off nostalgia.
Nothing gets the eye-roll going like public displays of emotion, but we are suckers for a wartime montage, or the sound of Vera Lynn drifting over a government ad.
We tell ourselves we don’t buy into myths – while voting like we do.
Even Brexit — sold as forward-looking independence — leaned heavily on images of a Britain long gone, or never really there to begin with.
We love the underdog — but follow the powerful.
There’s a deep affection in this country for the underdog — the struggler, the outsider, the punch-upwards comic. But in practice, we often align ourselves with the dominant voice. We elect the slick, not the sincere. We treat working-class anger as dangerous, but upper-class arrogance as “leadership.”
The moment an underdog wins, we treat them with suspicion. Maybe that’s why we haven’t had one in power for decades.
So what does this mean?
It means we must not just reclaim Britishness – we need to reckon with it first.
These contradictions aren’t flaws in the system — they are the system. They shape how narratives take root, how power is preserved, and how hope is managed.
They are exploited constantly: when people are tired, uncertain, and longing for identity, even a false one can feel like clarity – especially if it echoes what they have already half-accepted.
The Right knows this. It offers a Britishness that sounds solid — even if it’s hollow. Built on exclusion, nostalgia, and slogans.
And because it “feels like something,” it fills the vacuum left by cautious Centrism and a sidelined Left.
We don’t need to simplify Britishness. We need to be honest about it.
The British are not a neat story. We are a contradiction in motion — cynical but hopeful, proud but self-effacing, deeply decent but weirdly docile.
Acknowledging that does not weaken the idea of Britishness. Rather, it should strengthen it — make it real again; not a cartoon with bunting (as I mentioned in that other article), but a living, breathing culture full of doubts and tensions but still powered by a fierce belief in fairness.
That is the Britishness worth remembering. The one that can laugh at itself — and still stand up when it counts.
We don’t need to wrap it up in a flag. We just need to stop pretending it’s simple.
Maybe, before we invoke it, we should recognise what we’ve been living with all along.
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Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
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Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
The very British contradictions we must own before we can grow
The British are a conflicted people – full of the very British contradictions we must own before we can grow, and it’s long past time we accepted that.
This Writer argued in a previous piece that Britishness isn’t found in puffed-up patriotism or polling-led platitudes, but in a cultural posture of fairness, resilience, suspicion of pomposity, and a refusal to take authority at face value.
But even as I wrote it, I knew there was more to say.
Like any national identity, Britishness isn’t a clean, singular thing; it is full of contradictions.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
We are a nation of paradoxes — often proud of that fact — and those contradictions are not just harmless quirks. They shape how we live, how we vote, and how easily we can be manipulated.
We cannot reclaim Britishness without first reckoning with these tensions. Since that first article, I’ve been thinking about how to address them – and here are just a few of the contradictions we live with every day — but rarely name.
We don’t like being told what to do — but we still do it.
We pride ourselves on being difficult to boss around. “You’re not the boss of me” could be our national slogan.
Yet, time and again, we tolerate overreach from those in power. Whether it’s surveillance legislation, protest restrictions, quietly creeping authoritarianism, we grumble – and comply.
Why? Maybe it’s because we’ve internalised the idea that rebellion is uncouth.
Or maybe we still half-believe that if something sounds official enough, it must be justified.
We whisper our dissent, rather than shout it. We queue politely — even as the house burns down.
We trust institutions — until we don’t.
The BBC can get things wrong — badly wrong — but people will still defend it, because it feels trustworthy.
That feeling is a relic of a time when authority and accuracy seemed to go hand-in-hand. But that same instinct can blind us to bias, complacency, or outright misinformation.
And that blindness extends elsehwere, meaning that we both mock and revere our institutions.
We treat Parliament like pantomime, but expect it to save us. We sneer at “the establishment” — and vote for it again and again.
We’re proudly sceptical — and yet strangely credulous.
We pride ourselves on our “no-nonsense” attitude, thinking we can spot a con a mile off – but we also fall for simplistic narratives when they scratch the right itch.
Tabloid outrage is devoured uncritically. Half-truths dressed in patriotism pass for wisdom.
We’re suspicious of politicians, but not always of the sources that prop them up.
We mock sentimentality — but live off nostalgia.
Nothing gets the eye-roll going like public displays of emotion, but we are suckers for a wartime montage, or the sound of Vera Lynn drifting over a government ad.
We tell ourselves we don’t buy into myths – while voting like we do.
Even Brexit — sold as forward-looking independence — leaned heavily on images of a Britain long gone, or never really there to begin with.
We love the underdog — but follow the powerful.
There’s a deep affection in this country for the underdog — the struggler, the outsider, the punch-upwards comic. But in practice, we often align ourselves with the dominant voice. We elect the slick, not the sincere. We treat working-class anger as dangerous, but upper-class arrogance as “leadership.”
The moment an underdog wins, we treat them with suspicion. Maybe that’s why we haven’t had one in power for decades.
So what does this mean?
It means we must not just reclaim Britishness – we need to reckon with it first.
These contradictions aren’t flaws in the system — they are the system. They shape how narratives take root, how power is preserved, and how hope is managed.
They are exploited constantly: when people are tired, uncertain, and longing for identity, even a false one can feel like clarity – especially if it echoes what they have already half-accepted.
The Right knows this. It offers a Britishness that sounds solid — even if it’s hollow. Built on exclusion, nostalgia, and slogans.
And because it “feels like something,” it fills the vacuum left by cautious Centrism and a sidelined Left.
We don’t need to simplify Britishness. We need to be honest about it.
The British are not a neat story. We are a contradiction in motion — cynical but hopeful, proud but self-effacing, deeply decent but weirdly docile.
Acknowledging that does not weaken the idea of Britishness. Rather, it should strengthen it — make it real again; not a cartoon with bunting (as I mentioned in that other article), but a living, breathing culture full of doubts and tensions but still powered by a fierce belief in fairness.
That is the Britishness worth remembering. The one that can laugh at itself — and still stand up when it counts.
We don’t need to wrap it up in a flag. We just need to stop pretending it’s simple.
Maybe, before we invoke it, we should recognise what we’ve been living with all along.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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