What is "Britishness"? Part 5: Good manners and common decency

Good manners and common decency are characteristics that have traditionally been associated with the British. We are renowned the world over for being polite and our reputation for forming an orderly queue is second to none!

British people are well-known for their queue etiquette. Photo by milkos on 123RF.

Being civil is the minimum standard of moral behaviour that people should be able to expect of each other in Britain. The idea of common decency includes everyday courtesy, respect, and politeness that is expected and assumed by social convention. As taught social behaviours, the extent to which an individual understands and practises them can be looked upon by some to reflect the quality of their upbringing. A Christian might express it by pointing to Jesus’ words in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7.12) and say that it is about “doing to others as you would like them to do to you.” My son would define it more bluntly as “don’t be a dick.” The key point is that the concept of common decency imposes a moral obligation on each individual in society to behave considerately that is for the benefit of all. Anyone who refuses or fails to abide by these social norms will be subject to an unfavourable moral judgement by others for not behaving as expected and undermining the mutual trust and collective responsibility that is necessary to maintain the kind of civil society that we would all prefer to live in.

It used to be the case that if anyone in a position of responsibility, be they politician, business leader, religious leader, or professional person, was caught telling lies, saying derogatory things about a person or group of people, acting disreputably, abusing their position, being incompetent or negligent, they would do ‘the decent thing’ and resign. If they failed to do so of their own accord, they could at least expect to be severely reprimanded and would probably still lose their job. Sadly, it seems that the government and those at the top of our society no longer feel that this old code of honour applies to them. They seem to be going out of their way to create a ‘them and us’ culture in which they are free to do as they please, seemingly without repercussions, whilst members of the public are still expected to follow the rules. The most blatant example was Dominic Cummings being allowed to retain his position despite breaking the lockdown rules he was responsible for, whereas Professor Ferguson resigned from SAGE after a much less serious breach of social distancing rules.

Common decency has been thrown out of the window and the stench of sleaze is overpowering. Government ministers lie compulsively to avoid criticism and protect themselves. There are so many examples that I am spoilt for choice but a couple of whoppers spring immediately to mind. In the run-up to Brexit, Britain’s fishing industry was assured that it would be better off but the deal has left it struggling for survival due to lost revenue, mounting costs, red tape and barriers to trade. Then, as UK Coronavirus deaths passed 100,000 making us the country with the highest mortality rate per million in the World, the Prime Minister insisted even more crassly that his government “did everything we could” to limit Coronavirus deaths. They stand condemned by their litany of failings.

We have seen that ministers also have no compunction about throwing others under the bus for their own mistakes. A particularly heinous example was the scandal over the high level of deaths reported in care homes during the first wave of the pandemic. The Government put the blame on the care homes only for it later to be revealed that in order to free-up beds and protect the NHS, thousands of elderly patients had been sent back from hospitals without being tested for Covid-19 and without any plan being in place to prepare care homes, or protect their staff and residents. Ministers also like to pass the buck rather than take any responsibility themselves. Throughout the pandemic, local authorities, employers, and schools have been left to make sense of the scant, often confusing, and usually last-minute guidance coming from the Government.

Another technique used by ministers to hide or divert attention from their ineptitude or lack of policy is to create smokescreens. Whenever they are under pressure, the Royal Family (particularly Prince Andrew or Harry and Meghan), the number of refugees arriving across the channel, or a departmental restructuring are the distractions of choice to cover up for their sins. Whether it is their abysmal handling of the pandemic, the UK having the worst economic performance within the G7, or allegations of bullying, by manipulating the news flow in this way they are repeatedly able to brazen it out and wriggle off the hook. We have moved so far away from a decent and honest approach to politics that there is now nothing which seems to be regarded as a resignation issue. Similarly, issues that are uncomfortable to the Government are suppressed, with the help of the largely right-wing media, as part of their damage limitation strategy. For instance, during the first wave of the pandemic, there were stories of NHS staff being gagged from speaking out about widespread shortages of personal protective equipment. The Black Lives Matter protest was lost beneath a load of vitriol about the removal of statues. Likewise, the Grenfell fire scandal has consistently been kept out of the headlines.

The disregard for propriety in office is cavalier. Cronyism is rampant and profligacy with taxpayers’ money is rife. The tone our leaders are setting from the top is tearing away at the fabric of society as we know it. The worst thing is that because they behave like this all the time, we have become desensitised to the scandal, negligence and incompetence surrounding this Government. The pandemic might actually have helped them by restricting mass protests that might otherwise have taken place, like those over the Poll Tax in 1990 that brought an end to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s career. Earlier this month, some Scottish seafood workers drove their refrigerated trucks to Whitehall in protest over the Brexit fishing deal and 14 were fined for breaching Coronavirus regulations. In these circumstances, ministers’ refusal to ever admit mistakes and their complete lack of conscience, combined with an almost unassailable Conservative parliamentary majority, makes it extremely difficult to hold any of them to account for their actions (or inaction). It is hard to see any way of changing this dire state of affairs until the next election, which, depressingly, could still be 4 years away. The inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States offers some grounds for optimism. Mr Biden, unlike his predecessor, is a man of principle who values decency and respect. The hope is that his presence in the White House will also have a positive influence on British politics.