I am British. Although I have my fair share of Irish ancestry, in the modern sense of citizenship I believe I am British, and so do most people from these islands, whether they are first generation Brits or can trace their bloodline back to the Norman invasions. I do not need to have a Union Jack on my wall to believe I'm British, or the words of the National anthem, nor all the works of Shakespeare, which is essentially, well, a fairly healthy British trait of coyness and apathy towards patriotism.

Since New Labour's rise to power, national identity has become something of an obsession to this government and perhaps it could be something to do with Blair's intense admiration for our trans-Atlantic cousins. In the USA you see a genuine pride for their flag, a people who will give one of the most rousing renditions of their national anthems you're likely to hear since Nazi Germany and a fairly uniformed idea of what being an American is. When you live abroad and meet Americans, there is something which strikes a twinge of jealousy in you, that they are quite comfortable with their nationality and take great pride in it, and it is a fairly rare form of nationalism.

This is obviously the approach our government has long sought after since 1997, from New Labour must come a new Britain, and after the death of Cool Britannia Labour have looked for a new way of forging excitement and pride in our country. Unfortunately for them, the British have always been very much reluctant to become flag-waving, 'hip-hip-hooray' for the Queen, and anthem-belching robots, unless of coarse there is a new British musical movement, new youthful identity, a just war or Britain winning some major sporting event, but lets face it, none of them are likely to happen for a long time.

Blair's Britain, whether directly or indirectly, did create a new youthful social movement, the new identity for teenage, disillusioned teenagers: chavs/scallies/neds (delete as appropriate). Youth culture is not something new, and although this form maybe a major problem, the government obviously nurtures the age old image of what kids used to be like; always polite, respectful of bobbies and the most evil they would inflict is steal apples from Mrs. Dalloway's blooming big apple tree. Now look at them! When they're not mugging old ladies and burning down schools they're blowing themselves up on buses.

Their answer to cure Britain of these social ills is to make all school leavers pass a Citizenship Ceremony and swear allegiance to the Queen, because the decline in popularity of the Monarchy is obviously a link to the decline in youths' attitude to authority, not anything to do with the amount of scandals they've got themselves into and the drain it takes on taxpayers money when our NHS hospitals are going to the dogs. The idea is so ludicrous that it would appear they hired Alf Garnett as a researcher, but no, this is from Lord Goldsmith.

British youth obviously lack the loyalty to their country that our forefathers had, but the answer is a lot more complex than a lack of respect for the Monarchy. Thatcherism did create a society of greed. It dismantled the idea of civic pride and the privatisation of most Public industries, hand-in-hand with the insecurities that mass unemployment and the recession caused, that have created the first generation post-Thatcher kids who feel, quite frankly, lost. At first we were told that the Union Jack is a symbol of the National Front and colonialism, now we're told that we should be wrapping it round ourselved and pop down to the Proms with our multi-ethnic friends. We were brought up that greed is good, look after ourselves and nobody else, now that we should be engaging in community service and talking to our neighbours. There is little wonder that the dismantling of the few national institutions we felt pride in would create a community with complete apathy towards others. A Britain was created where lies are told by our government to invade another country, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of young British soldiers to die in and thousands more innocent men, women and children, with images beamed onto our Sky Television screens daily, as a constant reminder of what happens when we trust our government and send our soldiers into a seemingly just war.

New Labour took up the gauntlet of Thatcherism and the spirit of entrepreneurship, and ensured the rich get richer, whilst pandering to the timid Daily Mail readers by not increasing taxes to pay for the hundreds more schools and hospitals the 1997 manifesto promised. Instead billions were pumped into a pointless war, the privatisation of state schools looks under way and the founders of football are knocked out of the European Championship qualifiers. Is it any wonder that there is no sense of pride in Britain at the moment? There's a long way to go before we fix these wrongs but there is no simple solution to it, and a Citizenship ceremony is not going to turn potential suicide bombers into Boy Scouts. Neither is swearing allegiance to the half-German, half-Greek, inbred, obscenely rich, next heir to-the-throne, who's only achievement is that he happened to be born to Liz II. This paradox of the New Labour movement, which claims to be the party of social mobility (but not enough to be head of our own country), screams out all the ills of Britain. One which has created a complete apathy not only of our country but of politics, community and our neighbours. So fix the wrongs you've made Mr Brown, apologise to the parents of young British servicemen you sent into a needless war Mr Blair, and Mrs Thatcher, well, just die, then maybe our society can exorcise its demons and move into the 21st century like our continental neighbours.