The perennial problem that Britain suffers from is Hubris or the arrogance of excessive pride. It is not just politicians that suffer from this, but it is also a considerable proportion of the general population. Many politicians from all sides of the political divide use the belief of excessive pride to manipulate the population into voting for them.
When I was young in the 1950's we were taught that Britain was best at almost everything, that we the British made the best chocolate, had the best police and health services, we had the best mountain climbers and military forces, and above all we had the best democracy. Our society was better organised than anyone else's, as after all we had civilised the "backward nations" in our Empire. Above all, we had liberated Europe from the Nazis; US, Canadian, Russian and Free French forces were but a sideshow. Our erstwhile allies might have a different opinion, but of course they got it wrong.
All of this crowing, that Britain is best, is of course tosh. As a nation and people, we are no better or worse than anyone else. It is not declinist or unpatriotic to be realistic enough to think that sometimes your country can get it wrong and that it is not all powerful. In fact, it is a complete mistake to believe that your country is perfect and exceptional in everything it does as it leaves no room for improvement or co-operation with other countries.
We have seen politicians banging the hubristic drum this week. One politician in parliament today quoted some cherry-picked economic facts to claim that everything is better now that we have left the EU, when clearly it is not; our economic woes are a result of the pandemic, the Ukraine war and Brexit. Above all, however, our long term economic problems are the result of Hubris; as a perfect society is believed to not require improvement.
The Financial Times is at pains to work out why Britain performs badly as compared to our neighbours and the US, when economic conditions get tough: they only have to look at our Hubristic attitude that a perfect Britain is so great that it can go-it-alone and does not need to work with our neighbours to create an improved economic, social and environmental order. It's time for politicians from all political sides to tell the British the truth and convince them that "go-it-alone exceptionalism" is not always the best course of action.
https://www.ft.com/content/497543ea-5f85-4522-a4df-b15ff416cca8
