Category: Basic principles

News of the events of conflicts and natural disasters, as well as noteworthy deeds of royalty, politicians, criminals and celebrities is naturally of interest to most people. Before the invention of printing, town criers would stand in the street and shout official proclamations. Since the first regular newspapers were founded in the 18th century, however, their owners and editors have inevitably used the dissemination of ‘news’ to shape public opinion via the tone of their articles.

Letting the public have unfettered TV, radio, newspaper and online access to stories of national and world events is a basic principle, yet the manner in which the corresponding ‘freedom of the press‘ is conducted is often viewed with disdain. When evidence of faking photos or quotes emerges from time to time, this only adds to any suspicion people already feel towards the profession of modern journalism, filled by graduates of universities instilling their own brand of ideology.

All-day TV broadcasting began in the 1980s, hugely adding to the continuous flow of news reporting. This has made ‘The News‘ hard to avoid, but the internet, fortunately, has opened up the opportunity to hear intelligent discussions without glory-seeking interviewers constantly interrupting with their own agendas.

(Top image: PIRO4D at pixabay.com)

Britain is traditionally known for having an upper-middle-working class system, but during the two World Wars everyone worked side-by-side in a common cause, resulting in the twentieth century seeing the rise of equality as a basic aspiration.

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) mused on the idea of social and economic equality as far back as 1516 in his book ‘Utopia’ (a word he invented). His description of an island with free food and medical care, communal property, no poverty, crime or immorality seems far-fetched, but a few of his more realistic ideals, such as religious tolerance and equal education for boys and girls, do now exist in the UK.  Although there are groups who campaign for increasingly extreme, nonsensical positions, the UK supports equal opportunities for women, minority faiths, minority ethnicities, minority sexualities, those with special educational needs, the disabled, etc..

Indeed, the desire for a fair society can be seen in a host of laws implementing policies in favour of equality and against various types of discrimination, with the Equality & Human Rights Commission giving assistance where requested. However, in an advanced, long-established capitalist economy like the UK’s, there are other factors at play. ‘Common sense equality’ could best describe our inclination.

(Image: pxfuel.com / CC0)

Charities are big business in the UK today, with over 186,500 of them registered with the three national charity regulators and around two-thirds of all adults making regular and/or one-off donations of money and goods. This makes the UK one of the most generous countries in the world in terms of donating to charity.

The concept of giving aid to the poor and needy is one that can be seen in centuries-old documents, literature and institutional constitutions. The oldest charity still surviving is King’s School, Canterbury, established in 597. Indeed, many schools and universities are able to claim ‘exempt’ charitable status because they provide a public service. Cardiff University is in the top ten of funds raised. There are tax reliefs that apply to charities, making registration a vital method of adding revenue.

Some of the most popular charities are those that deal with health, such as the British Heart Foundation. Animal welfare charities also attract many donors, as do those caring for our heritage and environment, such as the National Trust. Foreign aid attracts around a quarter of UK fund-raising. Awareness is engendered by subsidised media and print advertising, using carefully selected images and straplines designed to pull at the heart-strings.

(Image [cropped]: Howard Lake at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

It could be said that the principle of tolerance is bound to exist in a nation of so many people living in such a comparatively small space, or civil unrest would be a constant threat. It could also be said that this is not a given and there are many other factors which determine how well we live together. In the UK, however, tolerance is one of the characteristics for which we are known.

This means that individuals who differ in some way to British norms are respected and left to conduct their lives as they wish, so long as this is within British law, does not harm or aggravate anyone else, and crucially, there is reciprocity of respect. We tolerate different religions and we tolerate our beliefs being questioned with not a thought of punishment. We tolerate the claiming of rights and establishment of various small changes to parts of society, and much more.

Our tolerance is sometimes tested to breaking point. Nevertheless, the phrase ‘bending over backwards’ often describes what happens. The growth of activist groups in receipt of British tolerance also risks bringing groups together who do not necessarily tolerate each other’s particular type of difference.

(Image of shark-in-roof sculpture in Oxfordshire: Steve Daniels at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

Irony is seen as a particular feature of British observations on life, appealing to our sense of the absurd. It works visually and face-to-face more effectively than in writing, perhaps, especially in today’s ‘social media’, where nuance is virtually impossible and the use of emojis is frequently vital to put across the intended meaning. Irony is the juxtaposition of two states in one situation, sometimes with comic effect, as in this example:

Occasionally people misuse the word “ironically“, but if you can substitute “..and yet..” or “..funnily enough,..” and what follows still makes sense, then they have probably got it right! Irony is appealing to us because it requires the listener, viewer or reader to realise the double aspect of what is presented and it therefore carries some satisfaction. A newspaper headline that indignantly reports so-called ‘vandals’ putting graffiti on top of what is essentially graffiti, is ironic, especially as the newspaper seemingly parades this with no self-awareness.

‘Bitter’, ‘sad’ and ‘sweet’ irony can be seen in many of Shakespeare‘s plays, as when, for instance, Romeo thinks Juliet is dead, so kills himself. Ironically,  she was only drugged and on waking up sees Romeo dead, then kills herself too.

(Top image: Chris Bertram at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

British society is underpinned by the principle of ‘the rule of law‘, first stipulated in Magna Carta Libertatum in the thirteenth century. It depends on having a set of laws that apply to every person, authority and business equally and impartially. Everyone should be aware of these laws and what punishment they will receive if they break them. Judges must be independent and the police unable to subvert the law.

To ensure consistency, judges rely on ‘legal precedent’ to inform them of decisions made elsewhere on similar cases, but they can always set a precedent themselves if there is good reason. Natural justice and common sense are the basis of UK law, but  its application is subject to the judges’ interpretation.

The rule of law is a protection of the people from the state using its power in whatever way it chooses. It is often said that “no-one is above the law”. However, this is not entirely true. Foreign diplomats and young children have some immunity, for example, and the monarch (but not his or her family members) is technically above the law, as all laws, courts and legal processes are in the monarch’s name, e.g. the Crown Prosecution Service.

(Image of Lady Justice in London: Chris Downer at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The principle behind the saying “An Englishman’s home is his castle” is that your home is your private territory, which others may not enter without permission. Along with this comes a sense of pride in your property, so you keep it secure and well-maintained, and update the furnishings, fixtures and fittings as and when you can.

The idea of the home-castle is long-established in the UK, but it seems it first appeared in print in 1505, when Sir John Fyneux stated that a man’s house “is to him, his castle”. Furthermore, in 1567 Sir William Stanford wrote that as the law confirms your rights over your house, it is justified to defend it physically against an intruder, even if that causes manslaughter or injury.

The precise phrase was coined in 1870 by historian Edward Augustus Freeman when writing about King Edward the Confessor. He explained that while it seemed pathetic to the French, it was part of the English psyche. This is despite the fact that the ‘absolute’ owner of England’s soil is the monarchy, though this does make the reference to a castle quite appropriate.

(Image: Oliver Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The flag of the United Kingdom is a symbolic layering of three other flags ~ the  English, Scottish and Irish. It also features on the flags of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tuvalu and eighteen Overseas Territories. The protocols for flying the Union Jack state that only the Royal Standard takes precedence in this country.

The Welsh flag is omitted, as England had already annexed Wales long before the flag was designed. This is a matter of recent debate (since a red dragon would be an admirable addition to the middle of the crosses).

King James VI & I (1566-1625) brought England and Scotland under one crown and commissioned a new flag to represent the union in 1606. Some Scots objected to the red English cross being on top, but it was initially intended for maritime use and it is thought that this is where it acquired the name ‘Union Jack‘, as it was attached to the jack staff on the bow. In 1801 the Irish cross was inserted and it was at this point that the design lost its symmetry and it became possible to make the blunder of flying it upside down, unless intentionally signalling a call for help!

(Top image: Karen Arnold at pubicdomainpictures.net / CC0)

In a densely-populated UK, the principle of queueing ~ patiently waiting in line for your turn ~ is necessary and fair. If there is already someone waiting at a bus stop, it is taken for granted that anyone arriving later will form an orderly queue, rather than push in at the front. Queueing became a fact of British life in the WW2 years, when there was rationing, and it has continued to be an essential part of peaceful society in modern times.

We are suspicious if one queue is much shorter than its neighbouring queues. If invited to ‘avoid the queues’ by buying a special ticket, we will show an interest, but ‘jumping’ a queue is a complete no-no. Provided everyone abides by the correct queue discipline, we are happy to wait, especially if the queue is moving quite quickly. Traffic queues are not so polite and queue-jumpers have to be accommodated, reluctantly.

In shops and banks there is sometimes a single queue leading to two or more service points, thereby relieving the problem of which queue to join. Some even have an automated voice directing successive customers to the next available cashier and avoiding the situation in this video:-

(Top image: Basher Eyre at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The UK’s ‘God save the Queen’ (or King, as appropriate) is actually the royal anthem but it is also used as the national anthem. The composer is unknown but it was first published in 1745 in honour of King George II. Its adoption as the national anthem a few decades later set the trend for other countries to have their own patriotic songs.

As there is no law about it, the constituent countries of the UK additionally have their own national anthems, particularly for sporting occasions when they are competing separately. Each of these songs can be seen as ancient battle cries, stirring up feelings of ‘do or die’. Wales has ‘Land of my Fathers‘; Scotland has ‘Flower of Scotland’; Northern Ireland has ‘The Soldier’s Song’, and England has ‘Land of Hope and Glory‘ or, strange as it may seem, ‘Jerusalem’.

Only the first verse of ‘God save the Queen’  is usually sung, in slow tempo. There are other verses but most Britons would not know them.

(Top image: Leo Reynolds at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)