[DemolitionRed]

I love British traditions. The monarchy (yep I’m left and love the monarchy!). Our politeness (something I hope we never lose). Our eccentricity (we were the founders of eccentric habits!) our ironic humour depending on which part of Britain we are from and our endless obsession with the weather. But do I have to be British to love those traditions?

Here’s a question: What are the most important aspects of Being British, French, Israeli and so on? 1. Is it DNA? 2. Faith or ethnicity? 3. Citizenship? 4. Born here?. 5. Parents born here? 6. Pay taxes?. 7. Celebrate traditional or historic occasions?

I recently had my DNA tested. I knew it was going to show up French and African as well as British but I was surprised to see such a high percentage of Irish and Scandinavian. Having done my genealogy, I was aware that a portion of my family descended from the Picts but had never considered beyond that point. I think of myself as British but my DNA tells a very different story.

It would be impossible to create an Aryan race so what marks us out as British… where is the dividing line that gives us Englishness? because its certainly not ancestry and neither is it the color of our skin.