News

Enoch Powell was right about levels of immigration but not its consequences, and the visceral reaction to his speech has left Britons worried about discussing the consequences of immigration, argues Sunder Katwala in a speech in Bristol.

Royal Greenwich needs to clean up its act, and clear up the Silver Jubilee’s Thames Path in time for this year’s celebrations, says Rachael Jolley.

‘Physical theatre’ group DV8’s latest production Can We Talk About This? is currently being performed at London’s National Theatre. Sunder Katwala applauds its corporeal flare but finds a lack of serious engagement with its subject matter of multiculturalism.

The Daily Mail cannot seem to agree on what constitutes being British when it comes to sport.

Long-time teacher of English to new arrivals in this country Jo Thorp finds the rewards are great for both students and society, but following funding cuts, there are massive waiting lists for most courses.

The Daily Mail is campaigning against Plastic Brits, but the ugly term, being used to describe people who the newspaper thinks shouldn’t represent Britain, misrepresents the nation’s sporting history.

The Tate’s new Migrations exhibition doesn’t communicate the complex experiences of migration, but does have a varied display of art, says Georgia Hussey.

There’s a lot of mixed feelings when it comes to British identity. Almost everyone I know has a separate ethnic identity which means we often don’t think about what it is to be British, or it can mean that we tend to appreciate it less.

I went to Ethiopia in 2010 and personally didn’t enjoy myself. I was so used to being wrapped up in this blanket of multiculturalism that I didn’t realise being in a whole city full of people who looked similar to me would feel so unsettling. However what was even more surprising was that people were judgemental when I spoke in English and some even laughed. Immediately I was defensive of being British, which was unusual as I was used to complaining daily about almost everything in Britain. At the end of the trip I was glad my parents decided to raise me in London. There are a lot of things we can be grateful for: the underground or the education system, for example. There aren’t many people in the world who can say they can get miles around a city in less than an hour.

British Future went to York last week to join the cast of the play ‘Bed’ in a debate about British identity. Before the debate, we asked the cast members about their identity – British, Yorkshire or otherwise – as part of our British Histories series.

From Barbara Miller’s fond memories of chasing swarms of locusts from her garden in Africa to the cast’s unanimous love of Yorkshire, the stories tell strong but varied picture of British identity.