Guilt -tripping – darkening the soul of the West
On the cultural disease of oikophobia
FRANK FUREDI
First a confession. I am not a serial flag-waver. In fact, one of the features of British history that I always appreciate is that its people possessed so much confidence about itself that it did not see the need for ostentatious displays of patriotism and flag waving. However, today matters are different. The nation’s cultural and political elites regard the Union Jack and the St George’s Cross- the flag of England – with embarrassment and studied contempt. Today many British institutions would rather fly the Palestinian flag or the LGBTQ+ or of Ukraine than flags that bear the nation’s symbols. Outwardly pride in Britain is in danger of being displaced by the sentiment of self-loathing.
Foreign observers are often surprised by the relative absence of Britain’s flag in public spaces. As one such observer noted recently, in Oxford Pride flags are outnumbered the Union Jack ‘by at least fifty to one’[i]. He noted that the ‘next day in London, I saw Pride flags all about, with the Union Jack reserved for tourist sites like the Tower of London, which also sported Pride flags’.
In fact, the British Establishment’s reaction towards England’s flag is often communicated through the sentiment of ridicule and hatred. This sentiment has been embraced by local councils, particularly ones that are under the influence of Labour and the Lib Dems. Many of them feel entitled to prevent these flags from being displayed. Most recently the Birmingham’s Labour dominated council has ordered the removal of Union and St George’s flags from lamp posts in this city[ii]. The Council announced its decision to remove the flag on the ground that they put the lives of pedestrians and motorists “at risk” despite being up to 25ft off the ground! Needless to say, the Council applies a different standard of judgment when it comes flying the Palestinian flag, which are flown all over the City. Presumably this flag does not constitute a danger to motorists and pedestrians.
In Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city flying the flag of the nation is regarded by local officialdom as a risk to safety.
The British Establishment feels contempt towards not only Britain’s flags but also towards the people who enthusiastically identify with them with patriotic pride. An incident involving Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South, in November 2014 captures well the contempt that significant sections of the British political class have towards the symbolic displays of patriotism. During a by-election campaign in Rochester, she posted a photo of a house displaying three St George’s flags, with a white van parked outside, and accompanied it with the arch caption, ‘Image from #Rochester’. The implication of her post was that those who decorated their house with the flags of England were a legitimate target of disdain. Since they were obviously morally inferior to her superior kind there was no need for a caption explaining this on her post.
The cultural disease of Western self-contempt
The despicable attitude expressed by Birmingham Council and Thornberry are symptoms of a cultural disease that afflicts the outlook of the British Establishment. This disease of Western self-contempt expresses itself in the systematic repudiation of the legacy of a nation’s history and the constant derision towards the valuation of patriotism and national loyalty.
Almost 20 years ago, the English conservative philosopher, Roger Scruton developed the concept of oikophobia – the fear and hatred – of the homeland and the cultural symbols and attitudes associated with it[iii]. He warned that the ‘historic identity, both in its English and in its British manifestation, has entered a state of crisis’ And he observed that;
‘this crisis has come about because the loyalty that people need in their daily lives, and which they affirm in their unconsidered and spontaneous social actions, is constantly ridiculed or even demonised by the dominant media and the education system. National history is taught (if it is taught at all) as a tale of shame and degradation. The art, literature and music of our nation have been more or less excised from the curriculum, and folkways, local traditions and national ceremonies are routinely rubbished’[iv].
The crisis that Scruton identified has become far intense today than when he penned these words in 2006. Today many institutions are not only committed to the de-legitimation of patriotism they are also in the business of encouraging people to feel guilty about their Britishness.
For some time now Britain has been targeted by a cultural crusade that aims to impose a regime of guilt on its people. That hostility towards the British nation has become institutionalised is strikingly illustrated by the recent revelation that civil servants at HM Revenue & Customs planned to organise an hour-long seminar during worktime on the ‘guilt of being British’[v]!
The ostensible purpose of the seminar was to discuss ‘the emotional weight of colonial history and inherited trauma’. Its real objective was to rehearse yet again arguments for guilt-tripping British people. Its association of guilt with being British communicates the idea that people of this nation should feel ashamed for the behaviour of their ancestors.
It turned out that after an unanticipated outburst of public anger about civil servants holding an anti-British seminar, the HMRC decided to cancel this event[vi]. Sections of the media reacted to the cancellation of this seminar as representing a ‘Victory over woke’[vii].
However, it would be shortsighted to interpret the HMRC’s decision as a victory against the project of guilt-tripping Britishness. A HMRC spokesman merely stated that ‘this event has rightly been cancelled, with our full focus being on serving customers day in and day out’. In other words, this was a managerial decision designed to pre-empt criticisms that a political seminar was being held during working time while frustrated people struggled to access the HMRC’s customer service hotline. The HMRC diplomatically avoided denouncing the aim and content of a seminar promoting the demonisation of Britishness.
The outburst of outrage against the HMRC proposed British Guilt seminar indicates that a significant section of society is deeply troubled by the institutionalisation of anti-patriotic ideals. Thankfully a significant section of the public resents the demonisation of their nation and is finally making its voices heard. That there are signs of a patriotic push-back against the guilt-tripping entrepreneurs was demonstrated by a group of residents called the Weoley Warriors, who were behind raising the flag of England and the UK on Birmingham’s lamp posts.
Funded by a £2,500 of public donations the goal of the Weoley Warriors is to ‘show Birmingham and the rest of the country of how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements’[viii]. This group plans to reinstall every flag taken down by the Council. Reports indicate that many Birmingham residents are angered by the Council’s decision regarding their flag. The Telegraph cited Mrs Owens, a former police officer stating; ‘I think there will be trouble, even riots if they take them down,’. She added: ‘We are sick of having to apologise for being British. The flags have had such a positive impact on the community – people love them. There is nothing political about it.’
It appears that a growing number of people are publicly prepared to voice the sentiment that ‘enough is enough’ and that ‘we are fed up with the attempt to guilt trip us for being British’. It is evident that the negative attitude directed at British patriotism and national loyalty by sections of the political and cultural establishment are not shared by the people. Until recently those who were sick and tired of being told that they should be ashamed about their nation’s past felt that they lacked the voice to express their patriotic sentiments. However, something has changed, and it almost seems as if many people now feel that they have permission to make their views heard.
Millions of people who feel that they want their nation back are slowly beginning to make their voices heard. Theirs is a voice of populist common sense which represents the political antidote to the anti-patriotic ideology of the guilt-trippers. Maybe, just maybe we have arrived at a point where people who have finally found their voice can make British democracy work!
Looking forward to the HMRC announcing the holding of a British Pride seminar?
[i] https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2025/07/15/at-oxford-the-pride-flag-is-the-new-union-jack/
[ii] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/14/labour-council-remove-dangerous-british-flags/
[iii] Scruton, R., 2006. England and the Need for Nations, Civitas : London
[iv] Scruton, R., 2006. England and the Need for Nations, Civitas : London, p.35.
[v] https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/civil-servants-hmrc-british-guilt-racism-h3s32nrt9
[vi] https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/victory-over-woke-as-hmrc-guilt-of-being-british-event-cancelled-lessons-will-be-learnt/ar-AA1K5kYI?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds
[vii] https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/victory-over-woke-as-hmrc-guilt-of-being-british-event-cancelled-lessons-will-be-learnt/ar-AA1K5kYI?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds
[viii] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/14/labour-council-remove-dangerous-british-flags/
This article (Guilt -tripping – darkening the soul of the West) was created and published by Frank Furedi and is republished here under “Fair Use”
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