British History

Pride in Britain’s history has fallen sharply over the past decade as the country has become less nationalistic and jingoistic and more reflective about its place in the modern world, according to a leading barometer of the British public mood.

Although Brexit and immigration have created flashpoints around national identity in recent years, the wider picture shows a more inclusive and self-critical sense of Britishness emerging and a decline in my-country-right-or-wrong views.

While levels of pride in Britain’s achievements in sport and the arts have remained high over the last 10 years, the overall impression is of “a country that is quite proud of itself but maybe no more than that”, the British social attitudes survey found.

There was a striking 22-point fall in the proportion of people saying they were proud of Britain’s history, from 86% to 64%, and a 13-point drop in those who said they would rather be a citizen of Britain than any other country, from 62% to 49%.

“Despite Brexit and the debate about immigration, Britain has become less exclusive in its attitude towards Britishness, less likely to feel a sense of superiority as compared with the rest of the world, and somewhat more critical about its politics and its past,” the survey report concludes. “It is perhaps a picture of a country that to some degree at least becomes more reflective about itself and about its relationship with the rest of the world.”