Until recently I would never have considered myself a patriot. Though I do feel an attachment to the comfy familiarity of the country I’ve lived in my whole life, I’ve never really been the Union Jack bunting and jubilee tea party type. I hate litter, but the recent Clean for the Queen campaign left me with the urge to dump a bin bag out of my window in protest. Talk of “British values” also makes me somewhat twitchy, because I’m aware that defining positive characteristics as uniquely British traits often means labelling people considered “unBritish” as inferior.
I also think we made the wrong decision when we voted to leave the EU. According to rhetoric that has become worryingly normalised in recent months, this alone makes me a “treacherous snake” and enemy of the nation – 48% of voters have found themselves cast as an insufficiently patriotic fifth column. Any talk of the benefits of EU membership, or the economic risks of leaving, sees them dismissed as “remoaners” who must be “silenced” for the greater good. Presumably, my hazy republicanism and aversion to claims of British exceptionalism are just further evidence that I’m the enemy within.
However, the more frenzied these accusations have become, the more I’ve realised that I do actually love my country. It’s not a love based on cliched symbols or nostalgia for empire like the version being rammed down our throats by the pro-Brexit brigade, but in the positive aspects of the UK as it actually is – not least those who welcome and defend young refugees in need.
I’m not interested in arguing our superiority to other nations, but there are many things about this country that I believe are worth celebrating. And unless people are more vocal about the positive characteristics of the UK as we perceive them, we allow the concept of patriotism to be defined by people who would happily destroy those same attributes and institutions.
The NHS, for example, is a truly miraculous achievement. Universal, free at the point of use healthcare is something that enriches our lives in ways we might not always fully appreciate. It’s a weight off our minds, a safety net, the knowledge that everyone will be looked after because that’s the way we do things here. Most people agree it should be defended at all costs. For all of his flag-waving and patriotic pint-drinking, Nigel Farage does not. He’s previously said he’d like to see it replaced with a privatised, Singapore-style system.
The leave campaign’s false claim that quitting the EU would result in increased NHS funding was particularly awful because it played on voters’ admirable compassion. Most of us want to ensure that healthcare is available for those who need it, even if we could personally afford private insurance. It’s a grim irony that the NHS might actually suffer as a result of the economic hit of Brexit.
The welfare state as a whole is something we should be proud of, but several years of government austerity has encouraged a scarcity mindset that threatens our ability for empathy and cooperation. We’ve been encouraged to believe that there’s not enough to go around, and to draw the circle around who should be included ever tighter. There’s talk of pregnant women being forced to show their passports before being allowed to give birth in hospital, though denying basic healthcare goes against everything the NHS is supposed to stand for.
Most upsetting has been the reaction to 14 child refugees who have just arrived in the UK from the Calais camp. Instead of simply being welcomed, they were met with national newspaper headlines speculating that they were older than authorities had ascertained – never mind that their gangly appearance and facial hair is typical of many post-pubescent teenage boys.
Those who paint themselves as patriots often hark back to the second world war as the pinnacle of British achievement, but the attitude many currently display is the opposite to that which they celebrate. The “Blitz spirit” meant pulling together and getting on with things in difficult circumstances, not turning on your neighbour in a desperate desire to find someone to blame. We took tens of thousands of European Jewish refugees because they were in need. Now that people from Syria and Afghanistan are seeking sanctuary, many supposed patriots want to close our doors.
Not everyone, though. It’s heartening that many other people have been keen to challenge the nastier media reactions and insist that refugees are welcome here. Some voted to leave the EU and others to remain, but they’re united by their open-mindedness and compassion. If anything makes me proud to be British, it’s the campaigners, lawyers, social workers, doctors, nurses, charity workers and volunteers who’ve worked tirelessly to support refugees adapting to life in the UK. Their humanity is what really makes the country great.
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