AIBU to have no idea what British values are

[PeachyParisian]

Can anyone enlighten me?
Just seen this and I'm not sure what makes a value British

www.bbc.com/news/education-27777421

I suppose tbh that he means English values as he's only responsible for education in England - it's a devolved responsibility to the Welsh Assembly, Northern Ireland Assembly and Scottish Parliament.

Which makes a whole lot of us rather relieved we don't live in England, really, given what an arse the man is!

I'm doing Canadian citizenship at the moment and they too bang on about things that are 'Canadian'. They either seem; too vague to be specific, or; very specific and not really Canadian.

There may be more difference, in my opinion, between a Glaswegian dock worker and a SAHM in Hampshire than between a French and a British stock broker.

Surely there's always going to be a problem with taking any value and labelling it 'British' (or anywhere else for that matter) as it's kind of implies that non-one else thinks that anywhere else!

Im with you. I have no idea on what British values are. Are they the values the bnp hold, the conservatives or labour?
Are they the values that set up the NHS or that privatised it?
Do we value our christian heritage or ridicule it?
Is it something that I should be thinking, speaking or am I totally wrong in the values that are important to me?

Yes, chihiro I think by labelling them British we are somehow implying that no one else has them and we are therefore superior and it doesn't sit right with me.

I think values evolve a bit too quickly to really pinpoint them too although I like infinity8's definition. I don't actually think those are values held by most of Brtiain unfortunately.

I'm with you as well!

Since when has the whole of Britain had the same values?

I think you know exactly what it means but don't like the label "British". It doesn't mean that other countries don't have similar values.
In France, politicians are always bragging about "republican values", and it makes me want to scream "what about Great Britain, Spain or Belgium, are they complete savages?"

Well, one of them is that we don't allow schools to impose a faith-based ideology on pupils .... oh, hang on a moment....

I'm happy to see Cameron adopting some of the UKIP rhetoric to pull in those votes.

democracy

corruption free politics - or at least a massive hooha when corruption is exposed, unlike in some countries where it is taken for granted

freedom of the press, within reason

broadly Christian based legal system (for historical reasons)

respecting people's rights to their own religion - not imposing your own views on others too much

not tying up the legal system to one religion's views (though the whole gay marriage compromises 3 way bind on CofE have rather stretched that)

not talking about money, religion or politics at dinner parties

sometimes appearing to care more about animals than children

understanding pantomimes

saying sorry when someone bumps into you

Other countries can share British values, but some aspects of some other countries are not British.

Apart from pantomimes, which aren't really a 'value', you just described Canadians.

This really gets my llama.

It's just jingoistic rhetoric and; as someone says above, shows that the Tories are running scared of UKIP at the moment.

It's in the same category as the 'Britain is a Christian country' bobbins Dave came out with recently. Basically, as far as I can tell they both mean 'We are a country of mainly white people who vaguely believe in a Christian God and who are frightened/suspicious of people who look different and/or have different cultural backgrounds.'

Tolerance, which is the main 'British value' they're banging on about as far as I've heard on the radio news, is not something that can be tied to one country or nation.

I think it's insidiously nasty. Designed to foster suspicion and division.

Great. Canadians and British share the same values. That's OK.

I do not want to live in a country that considers it broadly OK for any of:

• using rape as a means of subjugating women
• slavery
• only one religion permitted
• one party state
• backhanders the norm in day to day life
• treating women as second class citizens
• 'honour' killings

Oh yes

queuing - definitely a British value

Would it kill people to refer to these as 'Western, liberal democratic' values? It would stick in their jingoistic, parochial throats, though. Wouldn't it?

It's is very difficult to recognise the constituent parts of your culture when you are immersed within it and see your whole way of being as natural or indeed universal. However we all recognise things that are distinctly French, or Japanese, or American. Just as they, looking at us British from the outside, would be able to reel off dozens of things that are distinctly British.

It is also a peculiar trait of the British - borne of self-effacement and latterly of a strand of self-loathing ideology - that we vocally denounce our own culture, and we profess to be ashamed of things that are supposedly "British". So LBC DJ James O'Brien today tweeted about rape culture, homophobia and casual racism as being British values (!) A ludicrous assertion as any international comparison with other countries would show us coming out very well indeed on these.

In my view here are some values that stand out within British society... Fortitude, Humour, Civility and Fainess.

If you don't know what British values are it's probably because they are so ingrained in you that you take them for granted. I recently had lunch with some colleagues from mainland European countries and they were astonished when I explained that, as a British national, I am not required to carry identification unless travelling overseas. The freedom to be able to go about my business without being asked for my identity is something so fundamental to British life that I was surprised at their surprise.

We've relied on these things being innate and unspoken up to now. We don't have a written Bill of Rights or a Constitution & we don't pledge allegiance to anything. We can't assume others share our values any more, however, and they have to be spelled out more clearly.

We believe in football being our national sport. Our choice of team is part of our tribal identity and should be defended at all costs.

We believe in the right that where ever we go in the world everyone else should speak our language.
We believe that our national right of passage into adulthood generally will involve alcohol.
We believe in the cult of the celebrity gossip.
We believe in the art of queuing.
We believe that a nice cup of tea will solve most problems.
We believe in the Great British Sales.
We believe in the principle that you should not boast about your achievements or appear overly confident.
We believe in our right to mock the North / South (delete as applicable)
We believe that we will fail at everything and then are pleasantly surprised when we manage to pull it off.
We believe that our weather is always shit and that its more extreme than anywhere else in the world.

In response to the issue, Mr Gove said pupils must be made aware of the "the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs".

I've lived in several countries where those values are utterly disregarded.

It was frightening.

The very fact we are debating this is down to those very values.

I am not British, but I think it is an absolute privilege to live in a country that believes in those values.

There are so many countries that do not.

Would it kill people to refer to these as 'Western, liberal democratic' values? It would stick in their jingoistic, parochial throats, though. Wouldn't it?

Ah, but has been stated, France has some very different views to us wrt religion and public life.

I may be wrong but I get the impression that Italy isn't that great on the corruption side of things.

Whereas New Zealand maybe doesn't count as western but may also share a lot of the same values.

Can't British Values just mean the values that people in Britain generally hold without people claiming them to be xenophobic or racist?

We believe in comedy and the arts as being valuable.
We believe in tradition, yet are happy to embrace progression (to a point).
We are incredibly faddy in our tastes, with fashion being given a very high priority.