British national identity
[6] Although the term 'Britishness' "[sprang] into political and academic prominence" only in the late 20th century,[7] its origins lie with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
It was used with reference to Britons collectively as early as 1682,[4] and the historian Linda Colley asserts that it was after the Acts of Union 1707 that the ethnic groups of Great Britain began to assume a "layered" identity—to think of themselves as simultaneously British but also Scottish, English, and/or Welsh.
[17] One of the central issues identified at the Fabian Society conference was how the English identity fits within the framework of a devolved UK.
[19]Critics have argued that Brown's sudden interest in the subject had more to do with countering English opposition to a Scottish Member of Parliament becoming prime minister.
"[23] The 2018 version of the CONTEST strategy codified the list as: The same advice stated that UK schools must: for example by After the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom in 2020, Queen Elizabeth II delivered a special address that listed "the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling" as characteristic of Britain.
A survey conducted in 2007 found that the majority of people in many non-white ethnic minority groups living in Great Britain described their national identity as British, English, Scottish or Welsh.
In Wales and Scotland, the majority of both white and ethnic minority participants identified as Welsh or Scottish first and British second, although they saw no incompatibility between the two identities.
[27] Other research conducted for the CRE found that white participants felt that there was a threat to Britishness from large-scale immigration, the "unfair" claims that they perceived ethnic minorities made on the welfare state, a rise in moral pluralism, and political correctness.
A 2006 study by social scientists at the Universities of Edinburgh, Dundee, St Andrews and Lancaster shows that more than eight out of ten people in Scotland saw themselves as Scottish.
[30][31] In the 2011 Census in Scotland:[32] In the 2021 Census in Scotland:[33] The Scottish National Party MSP and Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill gave the following submission to the UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights in March 2008 discussing a British Bill of Rights: What is meant by Britishness?
[34]Similar to Scotland, results from the Annual Population Survey (APS) conducted by the Office for National Statistics, show that the majority of people residing in Wales describe themselves as Welsh.
