Leadership candidates: Do we have a national identity?

To close our day on national identity yesterday, we’ve asked each of the leadership candidates to contribute their own thoughts on to our debate, and each has kindly obliged. Their thoughts are below. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and made it such a throught-provoking series.

DIANE ABBOTT
I represent the most multi-cultural constituency of any leadership candidate and I would say firmly that we do have a common identity in Britain. People who query that are often people who are personally challenged by a more diverse Britain. But more black and brown faces do not dilute a sense of British identity. Those of us whose parents and grandparents came here from the Commonwealth know that those elders were often more passionately British than indigenous people who had lived in Britain for generations.

To me, core British values are fairness, liberty and responding to personal crises with a nice cup of tea! But it is also worth noting that, because Britain was a colonising power, many things we think of as culturally British, like the bungalow or tea-drinking, were actually habits we acquired from countries we colonised or traded with.

I also worry that we do not know enough about British history. For instance, many people do not know how people from the colonies were not separate and apart. From the Elizabethan era onwards, black, brown and white people – together – have helped shape the Britain we know today. So our future lies in embracing the fact that we are part of Europe and in welcoming all the advantages that being a multi-cultural society gives us.

ED BALLS
Today, there are lots of different ideas about what patriotism and national identity mean for all of us living in Britain and I think that’s fine: what matters is that we can have a mature debate about being British and how that links with other identities and our sense of belonging to a greater whole.

For example, I see myself as British, English, and with special allegiances both to the places where I grew up, Nottingham and Norwich, and where I live now, in Castleford and Hackney. This is a much better position for us to be in, following many years when there was general discomfort about discussing national identity at all. Much of the past reluctance was, of course, because fascists and racists had hijacked the idea of Britishness for their own ends. More than anything else it’s thanks to the successful campaigning of the Labour and trade union movement that our national identities can now be reclaimed, as we showed in the election by defeating the BNP. For me, the determined and principled pursuit of a more tolerant and just society is central to what being British is all about.

Most of all I think it’s important that we discuss national identify positively, inclusively and in terms of what brings us together. And it’s our shared values – democracy, equality, freedom, fairness and tolerance – that make us British.

ANDY BURNHAM
I think of myself as British before I consider myself English. This is because of my Liverpool roots, with Wales and Ireland on the doorstep and family links to Scotland. It’s because I recognise the strengths of the wider union. Right now, it’s important to celebrate the union, particularly when we see the trend to ever more parochial politics around Europe.

We all took great pride in the success of the Great Britain team at the Beijing Olympics, with athletes coming from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I was one of those who made the argument for a British football team at the London Olympics, partly because it would cement a sense of British identity amongst young people. I still believe we should come together, and not simply put forward a team of English players.

The need for us all to celebrate a positive version British identity has grown as the BNP has sought to corrupt it for racist purposes. To too many young people, they associate the word British with the BNP and that is why the Labour Party needs to reclaim it, to celebrate being British and all that it means: tolerance, decency, respect.

DAVID MILIBAND
The best of British means fairness, responsibility, internationalism and standing up for the underdog. It is embodied in our best national institutions, like the NHS. But also in the local identities and associations that make life worth living – like the Westoe Harton miners welfare in South Shields. I’m proud to be British, but was born in England. Britishness isn’t a mono-culture – and Labour needs to reconnect with all the distinctive strands of British identity.

ED MILIBAND
I am proud of my country. I am proud of its tradition of tolerance that allowed my parents to take refuge here from the Nazis. I am proud of its tradition of fairness that has led to such great institutions as the NHS, our state schools and our welfare state. And I am proud of our tradition of invention which has led to the creation of so many great British businesses – large and small.

So I dont agree with people who say Britishness or Englishness are no longer relevant in today’s world. I think the aspects of our national identity that mean so much to me are just as important now as they ever were.

But if you are proud of something, you should be determined to help make it better. That is the way I feel about our country. So, whether it comes to the role we play in the world or the inequalities that are still too much a part of our society, I want to do my part to make sure we build on the best traditions of Britain’s past as we collectively shape the Britain of the future.