The End of Being British?

Abstract

As the 2014 Referendum on Scottish independence approaches, a question which many people see as crucial is: have the British ceased to be British? In particular, have the Scots ceased to be British, and are there signs that the English are following the same path away from state identity? This article reviews evidence from British and Scottish Social Attitudes surveys, to show that there is no simple dichotomy between ‘national’ (Scottish or English) identity, and ‘state’ (British) identity. A majority of people in both Scotland and England take some pride in being British. In Scotland, although people are more strongly ‘Scottish’, they do not take a negative view of Britain's past or its erstwhile Empire and they see ‘British’ as a multicultural and unifying label. The data show that ‘Britain’ remains a salient and meaningful frame of reference, even though fewer and fewer people in England and Scotland define their own identity primarily as British. If they choose not to define themselves as British, this is a positive decision, not one they make because they think Britishness is a concept devoid of meaning.