What does it mean to be British? What a load of piffle!

Dear Editor,

What a load of superficial piffle you publish in today's Telegraph: Anthony King on "What does it mean to be British?"; WF Deedes on "British and proud"; Alice Thomson on "Desire to sing Land of Hope and Glory" and finally your leader on "Core British values".

They are like a bunch of 5th Century Romans discussing what it means to be "Roman" (notwithstanding Rome's great past achievements).

The interesting question is, what will take its place?

Personally, I feel more ethnic European, with a history that goes back more than two and a half thousand years (not to mention the millennia of European prehistory), than multi-racial British, with a history which goes back just a few decades, and with which I simply do not identify. I'm sorry, but I'd rather see a white Australian, American or German win an Olympic medal than a Black or Asian Briton.

Because that undermines a sense of national (or ideological) identity, which you and others wish to cultivate, such an attitude is dismissed and condemned as "racist"; but I disagree. It is simply the way that I (and probably a lot of other people, of all races, if they are honest) feel.

To: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk Re: What does it mean to be British? What a load of piffle! Date: Wednesday, 27 July 05


Dear Editor, What a load of superficial piffle you publish in today's Telegraph: Anthony King on "What does it mean to be British?"; WF Deedes on "British and proud"; Alice Thomson on "Desire to sing Land of Hope and Glory" and finally your leader on "Core British values". They are like a bunch of 5th Century Romans discussing what it means to be "Roman" (notwithstanding Rome's great past achievements). The interesting question is, what will take its place? Personally, I feel more ethnic European, with a history that goes back more than two and a half thousand years (not to mention the millennia of European prehistory), than multi-racial British, with a history which goes back just a few decades, and with which I simply do not identify. I'm sorry, but I'd rather see a white Australian, American or German win an Olympic medal than a Black or Asian Briton. Because that undermines a sense of national (or ideological) identity, which you and others wish to cultivate, such an attitude is dismissed and condemned as "racist"; but I disagree. It is simply the way that I (and probably a lot of other people, of all races, if they are honest) feel. www.spaceship-earth.org.