“Will Britain Survive?” an Atlantic headline reads. Exceptionally (even laughably) apocalyptic, you might think. But the Atlantic isn’t the only newspaper, or even the only organisation, touting similarly ominous messages about Britain and its future. Words like decline, difficulty, upheaval and apathy (and a slew of other “crisis” synonyms) appear to have permeated the political, economic, and cultural vocabulary of Britain.

The reason may seem obvious to many: inflation is at 8.6% as of August (ONS, 2022), and is set to keep rising faster than incomes can catch up, and with winter fast approaching, households and businesses alike are wondering how they will be able to keep warm and keep fed. Think tanks, policymakers, and even private organisations are scrambling to find the best ways to keep people out paying too much, and in many cases, to keep people alive; this is certainly a situation warranting a grim outlook.

However, reading this Atlantic article, even casting a glance across the websites of almost any British newspaper, political organisation or private company, it becomes clear that the cost-of-living crisis isn’t the only concern that looms large on the national psyche. Britain is at a critical point, it seems, in terms of its national identity.

To our new Prime Minister and her backing Conservative party, Britain not only faces an economic crisis, but a crisis of our place in the world. Throughout the campaign, Liz Truss railed against Rishi Sunak’s self-proclaimed “realism” on the decline of the nation and the idea that Britain is set to become a low-growth, socialist, uncompetitive economy. Instead, Truss persistently projects a vision of Britain pre-war: the leader of an empire, the ruler of the seas, one of the most powerful countries in the EU and the world. Knitting together a blend of Boris Johnson’s almost cartoonish optimism while harking back to the perceived fortitude of her stoic hero, Margaret Thatcher, she seeks to return us to an almost mythical former glory, a “Great” Britain.

The ruling party, however, is not the only one feeling the pressure of decline. Minority parties across the spectrum seem to feel that change and reflection is needed, both in their own parties and the country at large. Labour’s campaign website puts forward alarm and suggests solutions for the cost-of-living crisis alongside “six key challenges” we face in the coming decade, one of which is, “Britain in the World” (Labour, 2022) – outlining how Labour would reconnect an increasingly isolated Britain to new (and old) trading partners and allies. When Ed Davey became leader of the LibDems, his first speech’s message was about listening more, about reaching across the aisle and getting back to the basics of who we are as a nation – and based on recent election wins for the LibDems, its clear that many agreed.

Now, a historian might point out that this gnawing feeling of national crisis and decline we all apparently share has been around for decades. Since the end of WWII, as empire dissipated and Britain’s economy developed, our once fixed place in the world began to fall into question; indeed, Thatcher was fighting the ache of decline that Truss now looks to stand against. So, is “crisis” simply a matter of perspective? Is this feeling of changing tides just cyclical?

Yes, and no. We may have had decline on our minds for decades, but I believe a shift has occurred in the last few years, bringing that feeling from a dull chill to a pressing alarm over who we are as a nation and what our future may hold, both at home and abroad. Domestically, the Brexit referendum, the refugee crises of the late 2010s, the political and culture war pitting Johnson v. Corbyn, and the COVID-19 pandemic (to name but a few) are all issues that revealed some deep, and oftentimes ugly, rifts within Britain’s national identity. The recent passing of Queen Elizabeth has also shed light on how much our position in the world has changed in the last 70 years. The empire is dissolved and its successor, the commonwealth, looks set to do the same within the next few decades. Britain, once a founding member of the EU, and a key world power, is now on the outs with its closest geographical allies and trading partners, and, though certainly not an entirely friendless fallen kingdom, there is no doubt that the country now sits differently within the world order.

So where do we go from here? Britain must face some hard truths about itself; but the answer cannot lie in appealing a shallow sense of national pride and looking back on some fallen glory, and nor can it be found looking ever to some ever-brighter future. These solutions may seem nice in a soundbite, but both fail to solve the very serious national disillusionment and disunion we face today. Britain must face the realities of the new world we have found ourselves in, ask ourselves, who are we as a nation?

Published in Razz Magazine

08.10.2022