Americans don’t get sarcasm, the British love queues and the French like cheese. Stereotypes are often inaccurate, but can also be useful way of finding a common identity. In his sketch show comedian Erich McElroy draws on these stereotypes to describe his long-running struggle between being American and being British, writes Georgia Hussey.
"Bradford needs more than just one cup final. It needs more winners. People are desperate; people want change.” These words, articulated by one member of the audience at British Future’s Beyond Wembley: What can bring Bradford together? event, struck a chord with many.
Trendsetters from around the globe descended on Britain’s capital at the end of last week for the bi-annual London Fashion Week, which saw a blend of long-established designers showcasing their latest sartorial output next to lesser-known up-and-coming talent. But London Fashion Week symbolises far more than perfect pouts and seams sashaying down the runway. As representative of the British fashion industry on the whole, it was and is incredibly important to the country, writes Jemimah Steinfeld.
An exhibition at the National Maritime Museum on the East India Company is just as much about our past as it is our present, and just as much about Britain as about Asia. After all, things that we regard as quintessentially British were not always, like the curry and the cup of tea, writes Jemimah Steinfeld.
British Future's new report, State of the Nation 2013: Where is bittersweet Britain heading? looks at where we are in Britain after 2012, and how we'll fare our first teenage year in the 21st Century. Entering the new year, Britons are more positive about the economy, the family, and Britain itself, than we were this time last year. But will that glimmer of hope drift away or can it be built on?
The spirit of 2012 challenged the core instincts of both left and right, argues Sunder Katwala. But will that optimistic sense of what is distinctive about Britain survive into 2013?
With parents from Gujarat in India, but born in Kenya and Zambia, EastEnders actor Himesh Patel has been able to draw on his heritage, as well as his own British identity. Himesh, who plays the part of Tanwar in EastEnders, as well as writing and directing for the show, talks about his British identity and his Indian heritage.
BBC London journalist Warren Nettleford talks about his British identity. Coming from a small town and being quite aware of his Jamaican heritage, Warren says that the Olympics reminded him that, no matter how different you are in some respects, a shared British culture of things like books, music and food, gives us common identity.
Where have the events of 2012 left British patriotism? British Future and thinktank Bright Blue held an event talking about whether the Olympics, Paralympics and the Jubilee have left us with a strong new sense of national pride, or whether the hype of 2012 was just that, and we're still just a country unable to deal with its history.
I can’t really pinpoint an exact moment when I stopped feeling British; it was more of a process than a single event. There was a time just a few years ago when I remember feeling very proud to be both English and British, though always in that order, writes Ben Alltimes.
Rachael returned to Northampton to find out more about the place where many of her family have lived and worked. "Looking at my family history, going back to about 1720 there is always some one working in the shoe industry, and most of them lived within a few streets of this one."
From her Brazilian classmates admiring her accent to living the British ex-pat lifestyle in Malaysia, Lauren says that living abroad through her childhood has only made her feel more British.
Prime Minister David Cameron said that commemorating “the Great War” was a “personal priority” for him and he wanted the centenary to be “a truly national moment in every community in our land”, in a speech at the Imperial War Museum, says Matthew Rhodes.
The loaded imperialistic connotations of the ‘Great’ in Great Britain need to be shed if our country is to earn its prefix, agreed the panel at the Times Debate at Cheltenham Literature Festival yesterday.
The centenary of the Great War in 2014 could provide the next major national moment to bring people together - and to ensure that we know the shared history of modern Britain, British Future director Sunder Katwala will tell a fringe meeting at Conservative Party conference.
British Future's latest publication TeamGB report: How 2012 Should Boost Britain shows that most people want the spirit of 2012 to last - and asks what we can do to bring about a positive change.
2012 has brought Britain together. The Olympics, Paralympics and the Jubilee combined to provide the most inclusive celebration of who we are that anyone can remember, says Sunder Katwala. But what happens when the flame goes out?
A British Future-backed session at the Scottish Festival of Politics hosted a debate on who counts as Scottish, and when new residents become Scottish.
One in three of Team GB's record medal haul were the product of Britain's history of immigration and integration. That's because our Olympic team reflects the country that we have become, says Sunder Katwala.
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20 Years On: Why anniversary of Stephen’s death is moment to consider modern Britain
20 years on, we can now see that Stephen Lawrence's death has come to play an important symbolic role, Sunder Katwala writes.
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Tags: Britain, British identity, integration, Stephen Lawrence