This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/18/british-citizen-induction-ceremony
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| What Adnan and Audrey can teach us about being a British citizen | What Adnan and Audrey can teach us about being a British citizen |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Inside a dome-shaped auditorium in north London, they fashion British citizens. Mass production – 28 this day, over 40,000 ushered through Brent civic centre over the past decade. Lives communally changed in a ceremony the essentials of which took no more than 10 minutes. Applicants swore or affirmed the oath and then stood bemused as a recorded choir trilled the national anthem. | Inside a dome-shaped auditorium in north London, they fashion British citizens. Mass production – 28 this day, over 40,000 ushered through Brent civic centre over the past decade. Lives communally changed in a ceremony the essentials of which took no more than 10 minutes. Applicants swore or affirmed the oath and then stood bemused as a recorded choir trilled the national anthem. |
| First up was Adnan Alrashid, a minicab driver whose journey began in Kuwait. He was so excited that he dropped his certificate. "There is freedom here and human rights," he explained. "You can talk everything that is in your heart." Audrey Houston Thomas, a care worker from Jamaica, followed. "There is so much opportunity," she said. Abdul Hadi, originally from Afghanistan, who took the pledge in 2007, chaperoned his cousin, also Abdul. And the attraction? The question itself took him aback. "It is a safe country," he declared. "There is justice." | First up was Adnan Alrashid, a minicab driver whose journey began in Kuwait. He was so excited that he dropped his certificate. "There is freedom here and human rights," he explained. "You can talk everything that is in your heart." Audrey Houston Thomas, a care worker from Jamaica, followed. "There is so much opportunity," she said. Abdul Hadi, originally from Afghanistan, who took the pledge in 2007, chaperoned his cousin, also Abdul. And the attraction? The question itself took him aback. "It is a safe country," he declared. "There is justice." |
| They advanced: Australian, Brazilian, Pakistani, Filipino, Romanian and Somali; each delighted to have won the lottery. Then they drifted into a world where those who are gifted what they had just attained wear the privilege more lightly. Most struggled to comprehend the complacency, for they carried the optimism of the recently born. The normal seems exceptional – free education, the rule of law, a relatively uncorrupted democracy, liberal traditions. Not the naivety of Voltaire's Dr Pangloss – for whom all was for the best in this the best of all possible worlds – because many in the room had seen hardships in their countries of origin, and some have seen hardships here. But look on the bright side, they said. This is the bright side. It's all relative. | |
| Perhaps we who underestimate what British citizenship can mean to those who seek it should occasionally pop into a ceremony. Some who mourn the recruitment of more Britons with dark complexions, and first tongues other than English, might find the process agonising. And they would have reached for the blood pressure tablets watching this rite of passage in Brent. But the rest of us might gain perspective on an imperfect, yet prestigious, inheritance. | Perhaps we who underestimate what British citizenship can mean to those who seek it should occasionally pop into a ceremony. Some who mourn the recruitment of more Britons with dark complexions, and first tongues other than English, might find the process agonising. And they would have reached for the blood pressure tablets watching this rite of passage in Brent. But the rest of us might gain perspective on an imperfect, yet prestigious, inheritance. |
| For we feel less favoured than ever. According to analysis by NatCen Social Research only 35% of those most recently canvassed professed themselves "very proud" to be British compared with 43% 10 years ago. Nearly half took the lesser option and said they were "somewhat proud". The relative enthusiasms were measured by social classification. Two-thirds of those with no qualifications felt "very proud" of their Britishness but only a fifth of those with degrees. The rot particularly afflicts the young. Up to 63% of the over-65s said "very proud" described their state of mind, but only 20% of those aged 18 to 24. Asked the same question in 2003, 33% of the young people canvassed professed themselves "very proud". The omens are not good, and Penny Young of NatCen says the situation will probably deteriorate. "Even if pride increases with age, there is a lot of ground to make up and, as a result, we would envisage a continued decline." | For we feel less favoured than ever. According to analysis by NatCen Social Research only 35% of those most recently canvassed professed themselves "very proud" to be British compared with 43% 10 years ago. Nearly half took the lesser option and said they were "somewhat proud". The relative enthusiasms were measured by social classification. Two-thirds of those with no qualifications felt "very proud" of their Britishness but only a fifth of those with degrees. The rot particularly afflicts the young. Up to 63% of the over-65s said "very proud" described their state of mind, but only 20% of those aged 18 to 24. Asked the same question in 2003, 33% of the young people canvassed professed themselves "very proud". The omens are not good, and Penny Young of NatCen says the situation will probably deteriorate. "Even if pride increases with age, there is a lot of ground to make up and, as a result, we would envisage a continued decline." |
| What's up with us? There is the long-standing answer that we think it absurd to trumpet patriotism in a fashion that other nations find normal. The thing that jars as the Briton of years standing enters the airy Brent auditorium is the incongruity of the Queen's formal portrait perched atop a wooden easel. We don't do patriotism in the same way that most, while assenting to religious classification, don't do religion. | What's up with us? There is the long-standing answer that we think it absurd to trumpet patriotism in a fashion that other nations find normal. The thing that jars as the Briton of years standing enters the airy Brent auditorium is the incongruity of the Queen's formal portrait perched atop a wooden easel. We don't do patriotism in the same way that most, while assenting to religious classification, don't do religion. |
| NatCen points to events that might have sapped what patriotic fervour there was. The economic crash perhaps. Maybe foreign policy. "Few look back on the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan as something to be proud of," says Young. "And the expenses scandal has undermined (and continues to shame) British politicians. The British public may just be a bit more cynical." Of these, the wars seem likely to have been the heaviest depressant, for Not in My Name was the slogan chanted by millions. When conflict ensued – with the terrible results we know – the legions who objected were unlikely to see a British state that bulldozered ahead, or themselves as constituent parts of that state, in the same way. | NatCen points to events that might have sapped what patriotic fervour there was. The economic crash perhaps. Maybe foreign policy. "Few look back on the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan as something to be proud of," says Young. "And the expenses scandal has undermined (and continues to shame) British politicians. The British public may just be a bit more cynical." Of these, the wars seem likely to have been the heaviest depressant, for Not in My Name was the slogan chanted by millions. When conflict ensued – with the terrible results we know – the legions who objected were unlikely to see a British state that bulldozered ahead, or themselves as constituent parts of that state, in the same way. |
| But if the wars and recurring examples of the establishment behaving badly have taken a wrecking ball to national pride, haven't there also been other vandalisms chipping away? On being welcomed into "full membership of the British family" the 28 Brent newbies were urged to show "tolerance and respect" for others, holding dear to "rights and freedoms" and upholding our "democratic values". But if these are the mainstays of the British value system as portrayed to those who would join us, have we been true to them? How great has been the assault on tolerance by those who routinely and callously portray migrants as parasitic freeloaders and hucksters? Some, of course, do feel a loss of identity and attribute that to excessive migration. Those concerns have to be understood. But what is the culpability of those who use those concerns to win easy popularity, and perhaps elections? | But if the wars and recurring examples of the establishment behaving badly have taken a wrecking ball to national pride, haven't there also been other vandalisms chipping away? On being welcomed into "full membership of the British family" the 28 Brent newbies were urged to show "tolerance and respect" for others, holding dear to "rights and freedoms" and upholding our "democratic values". But if these are the mainstays of the British value system as portrayed to those who would join us, have we been true to them? How great has been the assault on tolerance by those who routinely and callously portray migrants as parasitic freeloaders and hucksters? Some, of course, do feel a loss of identity and attribute that to excessive migration. Those concerns have to be understood. But what is the culpability of those who use those concerns to win easy popularity, and perhaps elections? |
| How much respect do we see in the conduct of national debates – on the economy, on Europe, and in the cockfight that is parliament? How secure have been the rights and freedoms, with our ever-expanding taste for secret trials, detention without trial, arbitrary stop and search, and exploitative undercover policing? How has hegemony of the haves in our politics, at the expense and exclusion of the have-nots, fostered our democratic values? If many people see Britishness, as historically understood, to be a diminishing asset, is that a surprise? | How much respect do we see in the conduct of national debates – on the economy, on Europe, and in the cockfight that is parliament? How secure have been the rights and freedoms, with our ever-expanding taste for secret trials, detention without trial, arbitrary stop and search, and exploitative undercover policing? How has hegemony of the haves in our politics, at the expense and exclusion of the have-nots, fostered our democratic values? If many people see Britishness, as historically understood, to be a diminishing asset, is that a surprise? |
| But even then, it feels wrong to dwell on the negatives. Better to reach out, in aspiration if nothing else, for the vision of ourselves that we offer to others. Perhaps, inducted and with their accent on the best of us, the Brent 28 have it right. | But even then, it feels wrong to dwell on the negatives. Better to reach out, in aspiration if nothing else, for the vision of ourselves that we offer to others. Perhaps, inducted and with their accent on the best of us, the Brent 28 have it right. |
| Sudheer Dara, who moved to the UK from India seven years ago, was among them. "I love this place," he said. "It has a lovely diverse culture. I have friends who are Somalian, Nigerian, Italian and French." David Fox and his wife Elecia, both from Australia, were inducted together. "I was surprised that a country of 60 million people has what I perceive to be such a lack of self-confidence," he said afterwards. "Culturally, we think it is fantastic. We love the history and values of the country." New to the club, positive for its future – and already attuned to a British way of doing things. "We buy into the whole royal family thing," he said. "But don't tell anybody." | Sudheer Dara, who moved to the UK from India seven years ago, was among them. "I love this place," he said. "It has a lovely diverse culture. I have friends who are Somalian, Nigerian, Italian and French." David Fox and his wife Elecia, both from Australia, were inducted together. "I was surprised that a country of 60 million people has what I perceive to be such a lack of self-confidence," he said afterwards. "Culturally, we think it is fantastic. We love the history and values of the country." New to the club, positive for its future – and already attuned to a British way of doing things. "We buy into the whole royal family thing," he said. "But don't tell anybody." |
| Twitter: @hugh_muir | Twitter: @hugh_muir |
Previous version
1
Next version