Clearly the bird flu story has far-reaching implications for all of us. But I’ve noticed that whenever I talk about it with anyone, a lot of the conversation seems to focus on the fact that it’s Bernard Matthews (a nice link for you where all your questions about how bird flu might affect your Turkey Twizzlers have been answered) that’s affected – Bernard Matthews, that great British institution.

So obviously this got me thinking (well, discussing Bernard Matthews’ sandwich meat will do that for anyone). This connects quite well to stories in the papers today about the education curriculum being overhauled (and also links nicely to the theme of Emmanuel’s bar extension last Saturday, God Save The Queen, not that anyone else cares). What with all this debate about what being British means, what does it actually mean? What do we associate with being British? I’m not looking for a lengthy political debate here about Gordon Brown and whether it’s possible to define Britishness as opposed to Englishness/Scottishness etc. Lots of blogs/newspapers have already done this kind of thing, but I’m just interested to see what people come up with. Aside from that, it’s an ingenious scheme for some ‘audience participation’, since we know people are reading this. You just don’t show your faces very often.

So here’s my plan. I’m going to put down the first things that come into my head, be they sensible or not (and most of them won’t be). Anyone who reads, please just comment with something. It’s not like anyone’s going to judge you. We are bloggers, after all.

The list:

Bernard Matthews (clearly)

Branston (remember the panic?)

Red post boxes

Red telephone booths

Shakespeare

The Famous Five

Fish and chips

Toad in the hole

The Queen (like it or not, it’s probably true)

Parliamentary reform (which, as soon as I say it, prompts me to shout out ‘1872 Secret Ballot Act!’ and then look around in an embarrassed fashion)

The Beano

The Beatles

Talking/complaining about the weather

Queuing

Yes, Minister

Not the world’s most cerebral list, but it’s been a long day. I may add more as they occur to me…but please comment with your own. Otherwise I just look like a very sad and lonely person.

Experts hunt for bird flu source [BBC News]

Pupils to learn ‘Britishness’ in history [The Independent]

Filed under: culture, society, ukpolitics on February 5th, 2007