British, English, Scottish - Who do you think you are? [View all]

[MichaelMcGuire]

In England, people of Pakistani origin feel more British than members of the white population, according to a new survey, whereas in Scotland a sense of British identity is much weaker.

British versus English

Britishness has been successfully promoted as an open identity that is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic - but it is important to ask why people from ethnic minorities almost never describe themselves as English. It is still perceived as an ethnic identity.

Labour leader Ed Miliband touched on this in a recent speech when he said: "We were too nervous to talk of English pride and English character. Connecting it to the kind of nationalism that left us ill at ease."

North of the border, Scottishness trumps Britishness, even among ethnic minorities.
He did not say it so bluntly, but Mr Miliband's concern is that for too long English national identity has remained the preserve of racists.

The debate is different in Scotland where British identity is much weaker than in other parts of the UK.

According to the report, if there are two persons who are exactly similar in every respect other than country of residence, then the person living in Scotland is predicted to report a Britishness score that is 1.04 points lower than a person living in London.

North of the border, Scottishness trumps Britishness, even among ethnic minorities.

Questions of identity

Professor John Curtice, from Strathclyde University, told Channel 4 News: "In Scotland, Scottishness has been sold as a multi-cultural identity and it does not have the same association with xenophobia as Englishness."

Prof John Curtice
Scotland's most prominent Asian MSP, Humza Yousaf, says that questions of identity have become more fluid and unrestricted -

"Take my own example. As an Asian Scot born in Glasgow to a father from Pakistan and a mother from Kenya, I went on to marry my wife, Gail, who is a white Scot born in England to an English father and Scottish mother.

He adds: "I would challenge anyone to accurately define the identity of any children we may have in the future. Will they be a quarter Scottish, a quarter Pakistani, a quarter English?”

http://www.channel4.com/news/british-english-scottish-who-do-you-think-you-are
https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/2012/06/30/ethnic-minorities-living-in-the-uk-feel-more-british-than-white-britons