National identity and birthplace of respondent & respondents' parents GHS 2003-4 John MacInnes Edinburgh / UAB

1. National identity and birthplace of respondent & respondents' parents GHS 2003-4 John MacInnes Edinburgh / UAB

3. Birthplace of respondents and respondent’s parents

4. Margaret Thatcher (World in Action, Jan 27 1978) … it is not easy to get clear figures from the Home Office about immigration, but there was a committee which looked at it and said that if we went on as we are then by the end of the century there would be four million people of the new Commonwealth or Pakistan here. Now, that is an awful lot and I think it means that people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture and, you know, the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in

5. Parents’ Birthplace

6. National Identity by residence

7. National identity by residence: P & R born in home nation

8. National Identity by Residence: R born in other home nation

9. National Identity by residence: R born Ex GB

10. National Identity of ‘Home nation’ migrants

11. Residence by ‘ethnic identity’ R & P born in same home nation

12. Residence by ‘ethnic identity’ All others

13. ‘YouGov’ 20-22 July 2005 ‘How proud would you say you are to be British?’

14. YouGov Poll July 2005 >50% say very important in defining ‘Britishness’: • British people’s right to say what they think • Britain’s defiance of Nazi Germany in 1940 • British people’s sense of fairness and fair play • The landscape of Britain • The achievements of Britain’s scientists and engineers • British justice • Our parliamentary democracy

15. Reaction to Sunday Times Reporter investigating effect of wearing ‘Union Jack’ T-shirt in Chancellor’s constituency ‘I thought you were English and trying to start something’

16. Some Conclusions • Birthplace (as opposed to residence) of both respondent and respondent’s parents influences how national identity is reported. • Rather unclear what national identity is! • Interviewer instructions • (White) respondents apparently happier with ethnic rather than civic definition of Britishness • YouGov Scotland results contradict this • LFS results: ‘New Commonwealth’ passport holders • Survey categories and way they are presented strongly influence results. • Existing ‘ethnic’ census & survey categories lack coherence

17. Order and context of questions GHS • Time at current address • Country of birth (if UK which country) • Country of birth of mother and father (if UK which country) • ‘What do you consider your national identity to be? Please choose your answer from this card, choose as many or as few as apply’ ORDER • To which of these ethnic groups do you consider you belong? • White - British 1 • White - Any other White background 2

18. Other problems of question wording and interpretation • Order and context of questions • Order of show card categories • Format of question prompts (‘Moreno’ v lists) • ‘Trigger’ words. E.g ‘culture’ in 2003 Citizenship survey • Respondent interpretation of question meaning • Inability to define categories used

19. Scottish Executive Review of Census Ethnicity Classifications Consultation • Country of birth • National Identity • Area(s) of family descent or origin • Religion • Colour / membership of visible minority ethnic group • Language • Identification with a community or culture not covered by the other facets

20. Is national or ethnic ‘identity’ an individual property capable of reasonable measurement by survey or census?

21. Margaret Thatcher (World in Action, Jan 27 1978) … it is not easy to get clear figures from the Home Office about immigration, but there was a committee which looked at it and said that if we went on as we are then by the end of the century there would be four million people of the new Commonwealth or Pakistan here. Now, that is an awful lot and I think it means that people are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped by people with a different culture and, you know, the British character has done so much for democracy, for law and done so much throughout the world that if there is any fear that it might be swamped people are going to react and be rather hostile to those coming in

22. Gordon Brown Fabian Society 14 Jan 2006 • While we have always been a country of different nations and thus of plural identities –
a Welshman can be Welsh and British, just as a Cornishman or woman is Cornish, English and British - and may be Muslim, Pakistani or Afro-Caribbean, Cornish, English and British – there is always a risk that, when people are insecure, they retreat into more exclusive identities rooted in 19th century conceptions of blood, race and territory – when instead we the British people should be able to gain great strength from celebrating a British identity which is bigger than the sum of its parts and a union that is strong because of the values we share and because of the way these values are expressed through our history and our institutions.

23. Gordon Brown Fabian Society 14 Jan 2006 • if we are clear about what underlies our Britishness and if we are clear that shared values – not colour, nor unchanging and unchangeable institutions – define what it means to be British in the modern world, we can be far more ambitious in defining for our time the responsibilities of citizenship…British patriotism is, in my view, founded not on ethnicity nor race, not just on institutions we share and respect, but on enduring ideals which shape our view of ourselves and our communities… What has emerged …. from the 2,000 years of successive waves of invasion, immigration, assimilation and trading partnerships; … is a distinctive set of values …

24. Scottish Executive Review of Census Ethnicity Classifications Consultation • Country of birth • National Identity • Area(s) of family descent or origin • Religion • Colour / membership of visible minority ethnic group • Language • Identification with a community or culture not covered by the other facets • Values

25. Juan Goytisolo • Se oye hablar mucho de raices … de nuestras sociedades y comunidades históricas. .. De cómo el hombre, como los vegetales, es producto de la tierra. … Pero el hombre no es un arbol: carece de raíces, tiene pies, camina. • You hear a lot about roots … of our historical societies and communities. … As if man, like a vegetable, was fruit of the earth. But man is not a tree: he has no roots, he does have feet; he walks.