People, Power and Politics

You have asked me to contribute to the study of what it means to be British. This is clearly a very complex issue and the single simple criterion is clearly British nationality whilst living in Britain.

There are of course numerous individuals of British nationality who are not living in Britain. Where this is a permanent choice one must ask whether to include them in this consideration or whether they have deliberately excluded themselves from this discussion.

One of the most fundamental rights of the citizen in Britain derives from the Magna Carta and it is that one should be presumed innocent until found guilty by a jury of one’s peers. In other words Justice is democratically based despite all the pressures that may come from the state or other organisations. In practice this right may be unequally dispensed and juries may be extremely imperfect but it is the fundamentally principle that underpins the ability of the Citizen to have the courage of their convictions.

I suggest that although it may not be explicitly realised this is one of the pervasive influences for the basis of Britishness. From it stem individualism and personal determination both of which are characteristics upon which we tend to pride ourselves.

Professor Sir Martin Evans FRS is Director of the School of Biosciences and Professor of Mammalian Genetics at Cardiff University. He was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, the most prestigious honour in world science, for his pioneering work on stem cells.