I'm not sure what to think about the idea of a "Britain Day", currently being pushed by Ruth Kelly (Communities Secretary) and Liam Byrne (Immigration Minister). What, precisely, would it's point be? Ruth Kelly says that "[t]he point of it would be to celebrate the contribution that we all make to society." But why does that need a specific day to do so, and how does that point even connect specifically with Britain?

I support the idea because we should celebrate the history of our nation, though we have to be careful that if we say Britain, we deal with British historical events [after all, Britain is only 300 years old, having been formed by the Act of Union in 1707] - or at least ones that affected the entire British Isles then and since. What event(s) should we pick? The date of the Act of Union itself? But that was not particularly popular at the time anywhere, and caused "rioting in the streets of Edinburgh and almost every town from Inverness to the borders." And most historical events which most people immediately think of with these things were English victories, not British ones - well, either that or Empire-related, and that wouldn't be allowed by the PC mob. Picking the wrong event would be disastrous to the whole idea, as it would automatically make it appear that Britain is nothing more than an extension of England, which it is not, and cannot be.

As much as I like the idea of day in which being British is celebrated, I'm not sure if there is actually any point to it. Being British isn't something that should need to be created through a specific day's celebrations. It should be part of who and what you are. And the best way for this to happen is for it to be taught in school, primarily, but not exclusively, in History lessons. We should teach our children to be proud of their nation's past - Empire included. No-one can argue that what Britain did was perfect by our moral standards, but neither can they argue that Empire was not an essential period of history, and in fact it was the extreme speed with which the era of Empire ended/was forced to end that did more damage than colonialism itself. If we taught our children that British history is something to be proud of, we wouldn't need a "British Day", especially if immigrants to Britain decided to integrate with our customs.

In the end, however, I think that I have to come down as pro a "Britain Day" - but only if the right date is chosen for the right reason, and it is not allowed to be high-jacked by extremist groups of any persuasion. Any "Britain Day" must be for every person living in Great Britain, regardless of race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or anything else. We should fly the Union Flag* with pride, and not use it as a mark of exclusivity, but of inclusiveness.

* It's not the Union Jack unless it's on a ship.

Sources: BBC, The Telegraph