What is "Britishness"? Part 1: An Island People

The first factor that defines the British as a people is geographic – we are first and foremost an island people. Before Roman occupation, 'Britain' was just a geographical entity, with no political substance and no single cultural identity. The inhabitants lived in a number of regionally diverse tribes and societies. The name Britain is from the Latin Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons. Britannia was used by the Romans from the 1st century BC to refer to the whole of the British Isles (including Ireland). Great Britain is the largest of these islands. There was no formal 'British' political identity until 1707 when James I of England and VI of Scotland sought to establish a pan-British monarchy through the Union of England, Wales and Scotland, telling the House of Commons “Hath not God first united these kingdoms… hath He not made us all in one island compassed by one sea?” The birth of this new nation, coming as it did amid the threats and challenges of war and industrial revolution during the 18th century, resulted in an outpouring of patriotism from its poets to arouse a sense of national feeling. James Thompson was one, whose Rule Britannia! (1740) is still revered today - “When Britain first, at heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main, Arose, arose, arose from out the a-azure main, This was the charter, the charter of the land, And guardian angels sang this strain: Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves.” Churchill referred to the British as an 'Island race,' implying that being surrounded by sea affects a people's character and culture. In particular, he saw and appealed to a steadfast quality in the British people that would go to any length to defend the islands they called home.

Photo by Bartolomiej Pietrzyk on 123RF

From a security perspective, the water that separates this nation from mainland Europe provides a defensive buffer. One can see how, all this time later, the sense of isolation, independence and protectiveness that this engenders might have played into Vote Leave’s ‘Take Back Control’ mantra which was at the heart of Brexit. It has been sadly lacking, however, in the Government’s continuing failure to close our borders to prevent Covid-19 from invading our shores. When infections swept across Europe earlier this year, being an island people should have been a blessing. Unfortunately, the Government, normally so keen on border control to prevent alleged hordes of refugees and asylum seekers ‘invading’ our shores, remains surprisingly and inexplicably hospitable to this unwanted visitor. Even through lockdown, our borders remained resolutely open. Stricter controls were not introduced until June, though not stringently enforced, but by then the horse had well and truly bolted. Even now, with the threat of more virulent strains coming in from South Africa and Brazil, restrictions have yet to be imposed. The defensive advantage that a sea barrier should have given us over those countries with only land borders has been surrendered without any hint of resistance. We could have been like another island state, New Zealand, and locked down early and hard to save lives but we chose to delay and keep our borders open.

Borders are important to define territory and control the movement of people, goods and services between countries. They can provide protection and a safe haven for the citizens of a country but they are also a gateway to the wider world. Borders do not excuse us from being responsible citizens of the global community to which also belong, or from playing our part in preserving the planet that we all depend on.

The draw of the ocean is the flip side of being an island nation: the desire to travel, to go across the sea, to explore and, historically, to build the largest empire that the world has ever seen. Among the Ancient Britons, some groups were outward looking, as they found it easier to reach maritime neighbours in Ireland or continental Europe than their fellow islanders. This peculiar tension between love of the ‘home land’ and the willingness to take to sea and rule the waves can still be seen in the fact that Rule, Britannia! is sung with such gusto on the Last Night of the Proms and in the strength of reaction last year when it was suggested that it should not be sung. It would seem that from the earliest history of the inhabitants of these islands, a spirit of adventure has been part of our make-up. Many of those born after Britain joined the EU in 1973 embraced the opportunities to travel, experience new things, meet new people, study and work outside Britain which the EU facilitated. Their horizons are broader. They identify more as European than British, which is why Brexit has been so divisive along generational lines. Older generations tended to support the Leave campaign, and UKIP, because they valued national sovereignty over cooperation among EU member states and wanted to ‘take back control’ of the country, its independence and borders by ridding it of perceived unnecessary bureaucracy, interference and immigration.

The Brexiteers may have forced the country out of the EU but Britain’s proximity to Continental Europe means that our relationship with the rest of Europe will always be vital to our future prospects. The EU remains the World’s largest market and Britain’s biggest trading partner: in 2019, the EU accounted for 43% of our exports and 52% of our imports. However, seen from the other side of the Channel, exports of goods and services to the UK amounted to only about 8% of the EU’s total exports. This shows that UK-EU exports are far more important to the UK’s economy than the EU’s. Post-Brexit Britain will need to continue to trade with the EU and, therefore, British exporters will need to continue to comply with EU environmental, social and regulatory standards to maintain duty and quota-free access to the European market for their goods. Arrangements for services have yet to be negotiated with the EU, even though they represent 80% of our economy. The idea that a ‘sovereign’ Britain is free to do as it likes without consequence is pure fantasy. That is not how trade agreements work - they are about partnership not isolationism. Trade agreements are entered into by countries that want to trade with each other and see mutual advantage in deepening the interdependence between them. Their common goal is to achieve a fair and balanced outcome that benefits all parties. By defining the terms on which they are prepared to do trade, the intention is to avoid misunderstandings, and ensure that mechanisms are in place to deal with breaches and resolve disputes. Therefore, trust and co-operation are key. Trying to use a trade negotiation to assert national sovereignty was a strange choice given that the nature of trade negotiations is to compromise on national sovereignty for mutual benefit. It is no surprise, therefore, that in the scramble to reassert Britain’s credentials as an island nation, we have ended up with a trade deal that, whilst better than no deal, is unique in erecting rather than removing barriers to trade and taking the trading partners further apart rather than closer together.

Britain emerges from these negotiations with its reputation, integrity and trustworthiness on the international stage having been damaged by the whole Brexit fiasco, the Government’s threat to renege on an international treaty signed barely a year ago, and shameless sucking-up to the populist Trump for a replacement free trade deal to save their hides (that went well!). In a world in which the biggest challenges for governments are global – the climate emergency, the current pandemic (and risk of more to come), threats to democracy and peace – and can only be tackled through international co-operation, it seems like a weird time to be making a stand for independence. Perhaps the kind of Britain that is required for today, and one that we could potentially all get behind, is one that recognises our interdependencies with other countries and the benefits of working together, as we have seen with the global scientific collaborations that have produced vaccines for Covid-19.

Photo by Hakan Nural @hakannural

A Britain that seeks to build relationships, is willing to play its part in helping to solve the challenges facing this world and that tries to be a force for good would be much more constructive than one that burns bridges and tries to go it alone.