Dame Evelyn Glennie
The values I hold dear about being British are linked to the sheer diversity of the British Isles, second to none in the world.
Here in Britain we experience a multiplicity of Arts through the quality of amateur shows to professional productions. As I travel throughout the world I am told we are seen as world leaders in Arts education, which makes me very proud to be British.
Until recently Britain had a History of innovation in business and technology. However I feel we are in danger of losing our own identity amongst the interests, language and cultures we have embraced and it is important for us to be reminded of what they are and how we are perceived.
Our multi-cultural society is the envy of the world and should be celebrated. We all have the responsibility of keeping our country and our people secure and not to expect others to shoulder the burden.
We must also build on our social values by engaging our young in wholesome activities. Through good education we can nurture skills for both pleasure and employment and provide every person with an opportunity to experience the benefits of music and sound, without which I would not have the career I have today.
For those of us who enjoy this wonderful country and all that it has to offer we must be reminded ‘this is Britain’ and we must protect our values and not let them be eroded or absorbed into a cosmopolitan vortex.
Dame Evelyn Glennie is a solo percussionist, composer, teacher, motivational speaker and jewellery designer. She holds numerous honorary degrees and doctorate, has won two Grammy Awards, and was named Scotswoman of the Decade in 1990. She was made a Dame in the 2007 New Year Honours. See her biography, or this BBC profile.
This is certainly something I could agree with if it had referred to English culture, however, like all influential people, parties and media today it purposely plants the British identity onto the English and away from her Scotland.
“The values I hold dear about being British are linked to the sheer diversity of the British Isles, second to none in the world.” a fine statement. Why did she then puposely go on to say “here in Britain” why mention it at all. Why not here in the UK.
No it says Britain because Britain certainly does not include her beloved Scotland, or she would have said Great Britain, and it does not include Northern Ireland or it would have said so. I am fed up with Scots telling us in England what we should be doing, why can’t they be satisfied with looking after their own cultural affairs.
Evelyn Glennie named Scotswoman of the Decade in 1990. Has there been an Englishwoman of the decade?
No. To get English recognition in this uk, we’ll have to end the uk.
“However I feel we are in danger of losing our own identity amongst the interests, language and cultures we have embraced and it is important for us to be reminded of what they are and how we are perceived.”
Our identities are threatened with being eroded, not by multiculturalism but by politicians and the media who ignore, traduce, and actively discourage them, and who are now trying to overwrite them with a set of vague “management-speak” “values”.
I’m not sure there is any point in asking ‘eminent’ Britons what British values are. They live in a priviledged world away from the crowded multicultural streets of our cities, the poverty, crime and racial discord and the fear in minority areas where other ethnic groups are not welcomed. None of them, not even Adam Sampson and John Bird now personally live in the mean streets, although they will probably know more than the others the underbelly of Britain 2009.
It’s so much easier to have integrity, be honest, considerate, tolerant and altruistic when you live in a lovely house in a lovely area with a very good income and economic security, though an astonishing number of individuals who have all these things display none of the qualities mentioned.