Why do so many right-wingers hate Britain so much?

One of the curiosities of the past 72 hours has been the manner in which it has become possible to make a clear distinction between those people who like and admire this country and those who only say they love it. There are certain ways in which the latter may be identified. The presence of a Spitfire or a noble lion on their social media profiles is one all but unerring indicator that you’re dealing with someone who deplores the realities of modern Britain.

These stout-hearted, willy-waving yeomen cannot help wetting themselves. The Mooslims are coming! (From Kent, it seems.) They are the panicky ones, not the ordinary British people who, while horrified by this week’s events, have quietly continued to go about their business. London is not under siege; it has not fallen. It has seen worse – much worse – in the past and might well do so again in the future but, if and when that worst happens, it will react in much the same way it has this week: calmly and with a dogged determination to keep buggering on.