Jayne Dowle: Recognising value of what it truly means to be British

Have you heard us recently? We bang on about the importance of fighting to preserve our precious British values, but when do we actually stop and consider what these might be? What makes us – well, us?

It’s easy to say, but much harder to actually describe. That’s why we need some clear thinking. We are in severe danger of getting our values tangled up with our way of life. When we say we’re sticking by our “values”, do we really mean that we reserve our right to drink as much alcohol as we like, or wear the clothes we choose to wear? Or do we mean that we cherish our individual liberty and democracy?

This matter has been bothering me so much that I decided to look it up. Type “British values” into an internet search engine though and see what you come up with. If you have as much luck as me, you won’t get much further than the Ofsted recommendations for what should be taught to children and young people: “Schools should promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and belief.”

This is very laudable. I am pleased that since the “Trojan horse” controversy in the West Midlands, in which a group of extremist Muslims attempted to take over the governance of several schools, British values have been championed in the curriculum. For a healthy nation to thrive, we need our young people to grow up understanding each other and the country they live in, not being fed any form of prejudiced line in the classroom. I think you’ll find, if you speak to a cross-section of typical teenagers, that they have a much better grip on the issue of “values” than their elders.

However, there is not much on the subject which addresses an adult audience. What about us, the ones with the power to actually put these values into practice? How many of us actually recognise that there is a set of quite specific and particular tenets which have been laid down in law by the Government? I certainly didn’t. I had some vague idea that tolerance was involved – but as for the rest, really no knowledge. That’s bad enough. Then try to find anything which takes these “values” any further and discusses how they might be translated into daily life and you’ll be really struggling. All the guidance is aimed at youngsters. What you might find instead is a series of observations about “the British way of life”. These usually involve witty comments about the importance of making tea correctly, or the acceptable way to make a proper cucumber sandwich. The correct form at a rugby match, or folding a deck-chair, might also be involved.

I don’t know about you, but I find this kind of approach woefully inadequate, outdated and class-ridden given the current circumstances. Where are the suggestions for how to be tolerant in the supermarket queue when the three people in front of you can’t speak English and are struggling to pay for their shopping? Where’s the official view on “mutual respect” when you’re walking down the street and a group of youths who have come here from another country spit on the ground in front of you?

Will somebody please help me because I’m struggling here for what I should think and how I should react? And I suspect I’m not alone. I’m trying to stand up for something, but actually I don’t know what I should believe and I don’t know how to put what I do believe into practice. No wonder our national identity is a mess, and our communities riven with discord. We’ve got no game plan.

That is why I say it is time for us all to consider what we understand to be modern “British values”. It’s helpful to see them written down there in front of us, but the most important challenge is how we put them into practice.

We’ve got some hurdles to get over though. And the biggest one is: who lays down these values? Perhaps this is where we are coming unstuck. Are we relying on the Establishment to somehow inculcate values into the population without having to take any personal responsibility for the process ourselves? That can never work. It has to come from us, the people who live in this country, wherever we come from and whatever our race, religion or creed.

Britain is not a nation which gives much time or credence to introspection. I suppose that this is a value in itself, considering much of the self-indulgent navel-gazing we hear about in places such as America. We should be thankful for that, at least. I’m not advocating then that we spend our time constantly gazing into the middle distance contemplating our place in the world.

However, if we really do cherish our way of life, our freedom, our democracy, our laws, our respect for others and our tolerance, perhaps we should learn to really value our precious British values.