A less than mighty Blighty

National pride has taken a nosedive over the last decade. But with Brexit, Covid cronyism and unsavoury royal revelations, is it any wonder we’re fed up with our lot, asks Helen Coffey

- Helen Coffey

When the recent allegations came out about Strictly Come Dancing, I barely raised an eyebrow. The much-loved show, a symbol of Britishness on a par with scones, Paddington Bear and the royal family, had previously enjoyed a relatively scandal-free reputation (well, aside from all the celebs getting off with their dance partners). Now, its clean streak was over, tainted by accusations of bullying and abusive behaviour by previous participants; the BBC was forced to apologise and expel two professional dancers from the cast.

My lack of reaction stemmed from the fact that we seem to have reached a point in our national culture where everything that once put the “Great” in “Great Britain” has been sullied in one way or another, reduced to a predictably disappointing slurry.

It’s why I was similarly unsurprised to see that, across every metric measured, Britons’ pride in our country has gone down since 2013, according to a new National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) report.

When asked whether they were “very proud” of Britain for a number of criteria, the 1,600 respondents from England, Scotland and Wales answered in the affirmative thus: 64 per cent for its history, down from 86 per cent a decade ago; 53 down from 69 per cent for the way democracy works; 44 down from 57 per cent for our economic achievements; 48 down from 59 per cent for Britain’s political influence; and 77 down from 84 per cent for its achievements in sport. The highest amount of and lowest decrease in pride was reserved for the realm of art and literature: 79 down from 80 per cent in 2013.