I didn't say it was bad, or unprecedented; I said that we need to find a shared sense

& that's not going to be "we're all humans", or "the NHS", or "the HRA" - it's got to be something that (whether rightly or not is pretty irrelevant) attaches people to this country specifically. Otherwise, e.g., why pay tax for the benefit of strangers? Why fight for it (many wouldn't, which is quite interesting in itself). Why look after it, or contribute or make an effort to improve it? Why give much of a f**k generally, other than for yourself (see modern britain)? I've been to many countries where their sense of pride in their own places contributes hugely to their success and to the fact that they're basically nice places to be. In my experience, by comparison, britain is oddly unhappy with itself.

Posted By: paulg, Apr 1, 17:49:29