At the heart of the remarks mentioned above is a concern about a change in Britain s identity. It assumes that there is an essential British quality that should remain static. John Major summarised a romanticised version of British identity when he talked of a country of warm beer and cricket. When hearing such views it seems like British identity was fixed during the 1930s in the pages of a P.G. Wodehouse novel of untroubled villages where serious crime meant a local prankster hiding a policeman s helmet. The picture of the old Britain the stiff upper lip, fair play and tidy lawns- forgets shorter life expectancy, disease or back breaking stints in factories or mines.
National identity is shaped by all the different races, groups and cultures within.
When thinking about the impact of Hanson s movement, it is important not to see Australia in isolation. Wherever there is a hint of instability or insecurity in economic or social life, people will always look for someone to blame. Usually the target will be those that cannot easily defend themselves from criticism, like those living on welfare, or those with whom it is easiest to identify a difference, like recent immigrants. Such sentiments can be vented either with minor parties like the One Nation Party or in the mainstream such as the Conservative Party. Both ways pose dangers to society, and if the threatened global recession does arrive there is potential for these dangers to get bigger.