By Sam Murray, Conservative councillor for Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council, written in Thursday's Star.
I am proud to be British.
Truly proud.
But in today’s climate, that pride feels like something we are expected to apologise for.
Across our education system, media, and cultural conversations, young people are being taught a version of Britain that is rooted in shame.
Yes, we must teach the truth about our past, the good, the bad, and the complex.
But we are failing the next generation by not showing them the full picture.
Take slavery.
Rightly, schools teach the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and Britain’s role in it.
But how many are told that it was Great Britain that led the global movement to abolish it?
That men like William Wilberforce fought for decades to end it, and that the British navy patrolled the seas, intercepting slave ships and enforcing the ban, often at great national cost?
This is part of our history, too, and it is a story of moral courage that deserves to be taught.
Britishness is not just about flags and fish and chips, though I do love both.
It is about resilience, wit, and community.
We are a people who can face the darkest moments with humour.
The kind of humour that says, you are still standing, and we are standing with you.
In Britain, someone can receive the worst news imaginable and still find comfort when a friend at the pub cracks a joke.
It is not mockery.
It is reassurance in disguise.
That dry, sharp humour has helped us survive war, crisis, and change.
We are also a nation of world-changing minds.
British inventors and thinkers have shaped the world around us.
From Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin to George Stephenson’s railways.
The World Wide Web was created by Tim Berners-Lee.
The telephone came from the mind of Alexander Graham Bell.
From scientific breakthroughs to iconic pop culture, this small island has influenced the world far beyond its size.
We are the land of the underdog.
The country that stood alone in 1940, led by Churchill.
The country that cheers not just for champions, but for those who come from nothing and fight for everything.
We believe anyone can become a lion if they carry the spirit of the lions we proudly wear as a symbol of our nation.
That belief in resilience, courage, and possibility is something we should nurture, not bury under cynicism.
We are a wonderfully eccentric people, too.
Where else can you find ancient debates in Parliament alongside village fetes with welly throwing and tombola stalls?
Where else do people dress up to sit in a tent and drink tea while arguing over whether it is jam or cream first on a scone?
Our traditions are not outdated.
They are charming, they connect us to one another, and they need to be protected.
We have our legends.
King Arthur.
Robin Hood.
Boudica.
Stories we used to tell our children of national character that values bravery, justice, and rebellion against tyranny.
They are stories of people who stood up when it mattered.
That is something to be proud of.
None of this is about denying our faults.
No country is perfect.
But we are more than our mistakes.
Pride in your nation does not mean ignoring the past.
It means holding your head up and recognising what your country has done right as well as what it must learn from.
So no, I will not be ashamed to be British.
I will be proud.
Proud of our spirit, our humour, our creativity, and our refusal to give up.
And I want our children to grow up knowing they can be proud too.
Let us stop teaching shame and start teaching pride, the honest, balanced kind that builds confidence, not guilt.
