Brits in denial
Sir: James Forsyth (‘Where is the outrage at the kidnapping of our Marines?’, 31 March) points out that the indifference the public is showing towards the seizure and humiliation of 15 British service personnel by Iran demonstrates a country deeply disconnected from its armed forces. But the disconnection goes far deeper, to a radical disassociation of people from the country itself. The spirit and identity of the British has been broken by endless propaganda traducing their history and through mass immigration.
Unfortunately, there is nothing to replace it with. The idea that a society can survive solely by reference to ‘shared values’, such as fairness, the rule of law, etc., flies in the face of everything we know about human nature. The USA is sometimes pointed to as a state founded on Enlightenment principles alone, but, from the first, the USA was a north European, Protestant country. Now it is becoming less so, it is in the first stages of its decline and probable eventual break-up.
This may be the fate of Britain too. Loss of the national identity, with increased individualism, has led to loss of community spirit throughout what is left of ‘society’. This is the real reason for the sharp decline in recent years of membership of organisations such as the WI and the Scouts.
Colin Broughton
Theydon Bois, Essex
Sir: James Forsyth misunderstands the reasons for our collective indifference to what he describes as ‘Iran’s act of war’. Having been fed misinformation by the Blair government for a decade (particularly in relation to ‘war propaganda’) most of us believe that there is a pretty high probability that our boys were caught fair and square in Iranian waters but that our government will never admit it.
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